New Journey
by BaSingTei
Summary: As the group head to Zuko's palace for an announcement in the heart of summer, Aang and Katara's relationship goes to the next level while another blooms between Toph and Sokka. Will the group be able to get over passed relationships or will it just weigh them down? Rated M for eventual lemons.
1. Shell

**A/N: This is going to be a longer story than my one shots. Please as always review and if you have smut requests, send them in. **

** Disclaimer: I own nothing, Bryke are the masters!**

Traveling in a group was always hardest when one of the group is in a bad mood. Sokka has gone through many emotions since his breakup with Suki. The Immediate and most powerful was heartache. It was pain that could have made a platypusbear run and hide. He never let loose tears in front of the group, but they all knew he had in private, alone. After a few weeks had passed, the pain dulled but morphed into a slow simmer of anger. That anger formed resentment inside of him.

_ What have I done to deserve this? _ He thought to himself. _What is wrong with me? What's wrong with HER?_

That made two women he had lost now. The hate boiled in him for a few more weeks before it cooled off and acceptance washed over him. then he quickly took the path of becoming numb. not his normal, funny, sarcastic self, and not saying much unless provokes to speak. Toph had grown sick of it very quickly - he was having more mood swings than a woman in her opinion. Katara and Aang were unsure of how to comfort him as they were happy in their relationship, so they avoided all public displays of affection for his sake. not just to avoid the "Oogie" talk, but so he wouldn't feel his heartache increase at the reminder that he had no one. His mood was really making their travels quiet and awkward, though they understood for the most part.

The group was setting up camp in the earth kingdom today. Zuko, now Firelord Zuko, had sent them all messages to come see him as soon as they could as he has an announcement that he only wanted his close friends to hear... and they all knew what that meant. Zuko and Mai had always been together, especially after the war ended. Their little engagement secret was no secret to them. It was inevitable. And they would all have to act surprised while Sokka would have to pretend to be happy and not overwhelmingly jealous.

Peace across the world had been very difficult at first to achieve. Especially with the fire nation colonies in the earth kingdom, which had taken up most of their time. Now, two and a half years after the end of that terrible war, peace was becoming easier to achieve, leaving more time for everyone to focus on their personal lives, or lack thereof.

While the gang could have stayed at the inn in the nearby village, being out under the sun and moon made things feel like the good old days when things were simple. Well, not that simple. Aang was still trying to master the elements at that time, Zuko had been hunting them down like criminals, Aang was having crazy ups and downs over his feelings for Katara... not to mention Sozin's comet coming soon and the battle between himself and the insanely evil Firelord looming ahead. but with all of that over now and as a fully realized Avatar the world expected so much from him. He set the bar pretty high.

All of the political strife he had to endure sometimes felt like more than he could take, he was only 15 after all. therefore, this field trip of sorts was very much appreciated by him.

The sun was hot and everyone was wearing pretty skimpy clothing, the boys not even wearing shirts. With the tents and tarps pitched, campfire started, and supplies unpacked, they all fell into an old routine that was very much missed. Sokka walked down to the edge of the campsite and perched himself atop some boulders overlooking the water, hoping to catch some juicy fish for dinner. Aang went to look purchase some extra fruit and nuts from the village besides the ones they had packed for the trip, while Katara was to search the forest for good firewood. And Toph did as she always had done; set up her little earth tent and then lay in the sun, relaxing.

_Great!_ Toph thought to herself. _those two lovebirds get to go secretly make-out in the forest while I'm here stuck with him._

She was laying with her arms folded behind her head, feeling the blazing sun on her skin. Surely she was going to be tan by the time this trip was over but it wasn't like she cared what she looked like.

She should care though. Puberty had changed all of them and Toph had been no exception. She had grown quite a bit since the war had ended. She was still rather tiny, running just under 5 feet tall. Her body had grown into that of a beautiful young woman's. Her chest had filled out nicely, her breasts an entire cup size larger than Katara's though she was 2 years younger. Her hips were that of a woman's too, rear included. Her form was slender yet muscular at the same time, classic of an earthbender. Despite her beautiful body, she still wore relatively loose clothing. She always wore her space metal that she bent into an anklet. She was wearing a simple sleeveless v-neck shirt that was a pale green color paired with forest green shorts that were a little tighter around her rear then she was comfortable with. But Katara had picked them out and said she looked great in them. No shoes, as always.

Katara has been there for Toph when her mother wasn't, as their relationship was, well, non-existent. Katara was 14 and Toph was 12 when the war had ended, so the last two and a half years were hard. She learned a lot from her. She taught her how to bind her own chest (She HAD to, she was a busty girl). About that whole miracle of being a woman that came once a month, of which Toph blatantly said was bullshit. And Katara, being the motherly type, had been the one to give her the sex talk. Katara and Toph had become like sisters over the years, Katara cared for her outwardly all the time and Toph punched her in the arm a lot. It worked. One other thing Katara talked Toph into doing was letting her oil and comb out her hair. She had not cut it since the war and when properly treated by her 'sister', it hung straight down to the small of her back. She still had her long bangs though. The ones that Katara frequently said 'hid her beautiful porcelain face'. Toph and Katara, when dressed properly, would be tied for most beautiful. But Toph was still Toph. Same personality, same way of dealing with things; head on. And still stubborn.

Toph could hear and feel Sokka sitting on a large boulder at the river's edge, casting his line and waiting for the fish to take the bait. Though fishing did not require talking, she knew his silence had a deeper root than just pure concentration. Normally she would be relaxed in the quiet, steamy hot afternoon... but his silence was awkward and tense.

_I am so sick of this. So she dumped you. Get over it._ She sighed and crossed her legs, trying to get comfortable. _Some people just aren't meant to be together_... She added in her mind miserably. Then something struck her as odd. _Wait, since when did I start to give a crap? It's absolutely none of my business. But come on! It's been what, two... two and a half months? Just please move on so we all can... and so we can have you back to normal._

Toph sat up and slowly pulled her legs into her chest, folding her arms on top of her knees. She was very uneasy about being left alone with Sokka. She wasn't sure how to break the tension he had created. Toph was not exactly the perfect shoulder to cry on. She was no Sugar Queen. She signed and pulled herself off the ground slowly, stretching in the sun before walking over to Sokka and his boulder. She was a few yards away, wanting to stay away from the water. She liked to stay where she can see with her feet. Sokka heard her behind him but didn't turn to face her. he didn't really want to talk right now. He hoped if he was silent and still for long enough she would go away. Fat chance. Everyone knows when Toph sets her mind to doing something she does it.

"Sokka..." Was all she could manage to say, clearly well versed in the art of conversation.

He didn't respond to her. Sokka pretended not to hear her. At his continued silence she grumbled internally and earthbent a small rock out of the ground and sent it flying towards the back of his head. it was a perfect shot of course, the rock bouncing off the back of his skull. Even though he was not slightly irritated, he didn't move or say anything still. After waiting for a response from him she audibly growled. _That's it!_ She snarled silently.

"Hey!" She shouted at his back.

Her attitude didn't seem to phase him. After a few more second he finally said something to her.

"What do you want Toph?" He asked coldly, his lack of emotion very uncharacteristic.

"We need to talk." She said simply, laying her cards out on the table.

"Why? So you can just tell me to suck it up and stop feeling sorry for myself?"

_Yeah, pretty much._ She thought, but decided against saying that to him. Instead, she pleaded with him sternly.

"But that's just it. you're NOT feeling sorry for yourself. You're not feeing anything at all."

"Right, because you know me so damn well." He retorted rather quickly, a little rage slipping passed his lips.

She huffed before responding. "I've known you for a while. long enough to see that you are ignoring everything that could make you feel some level of happiness - and I CAN'T SEE!"

He scoffed and turned to look at her over his shoulder. "Why do you even want to talk about this with me?"

She honestly had no clue. So, naturally, she lied. "It's not like you can vent to the two love birds about this. how can they relate?"

"How can you?" He retorted a little louder than necessary, turning on his boulder to face her completely.

His words stung her for some reason, so much so that she flinched. It was true. She had never loved and lost like he had. How could she relate?

"Because I'm alone like you. It just doesn't bother me."

_Liar._ they both thought at the same time.

He threw his fishing pole into the dirt and slid off the boulder, stomping up to her. He looked down into her pale eyes, having at least two heads on her height wise. "Look, this isn't your problem." he said forcefully, trying to make her drop the subject.

Her face stayed fixated on his chest as she pointed a finger in his face. "You're wrong! you're making it EVERYONE'S problem!"

"Just stop this, you can't make this better." His voice dropped a little flat, almost in a defeated tone.

Now she was getting angry with him. "You can't just not deal with this!" She yelled back at him, crossing her arms under her chest.

"I have dealt with this!" He screamed back, throwing his hands in the air.

"No you haven't!" Now she was waving her arms in the air around their intense conversation. "You're avoiding it and everyone who cares about you! The only reason you are even here right now and not in some corner of the southern water tribe feeling hollow is because Katara made you come out here! For your friend!"

There it was. That line that she shouldn't have crossed. he looked away from her and walked passed her, bumping her with his shoulder purposefully.

"Good talk Toph." He whispered, the words hinting at the pain that lay beneath his skin.

He left to go have some alone time in his tent as she balled her fists in rage. _Yeah, great job you idiot._ she scolded herself. She was so angry at the both of them that she lifted the cluster of boulders Sokka had been fishing on and with a loud scream/grunt threw them into the river, landing with a rough splash. She stood there for a while just trying to breathe calmly before deciding to take a walk along the river bank to clear her head, and maybe come up with a better way to talk to her friend in need.


	2. Resolve

**A/N:** Sorry for the long wait! Blame aboyofmanyfandoms, he is very distracting. Anyways here it is. Short and boring. The next chapter is MOST definitely like plusteen/mature rated so yeah some real action begins. As usual, iI own nothing. Bryke owns it all, I just use them to fill my headcanon.

Toph had been gone for ages. The boiling afternoon became early evening quickly as Katara wandered back to camp with not much firewood for kindling in her arms. She saw Aang and Sokka enjoying some moon peaches he had found, Momo and Appa munching on assorted fruits. As she came forward out of the trees Aang waved to her.

"It took you that long just to get that?" He called to her jokingly. "What did you do, waterbend the tree limbs off?"

Katara didn't smile at his joke like she normally would, just shook her head and placed the wood in a neat pile in the middle of camp.

"No, I ran into Toph destroying half the forest, and that kind of took up most of my time..." She said with a disturbed tone, coming and sitting next to Aang. "Did something happen while we were gone?" She asked, eyeing Sokka

Aang slid his eyes between Katara and Sokka, noticing her stare, feeling he was missing part of a story and feeling tension build. Sokka looked away from his sister. "Nothing profound." Sokka lied smoothly.

"Really? Because she was really upset. I haven't seen her that mad in a long time..." Katara replied, trying to pry information out of her brother.

Sokka just shrugged and continued to eat his fruit, not wanting to talk about it. Aang looked between the siblings again and shrugged his shoulders. He had no idea what had happened between Toph and Sokka. When he returned to camp Sokka was just sitting on the ground, relaxing. To him, Toph and Sokka had always been good friends. Katara was becoming frustrated with his lack of information and decided to change the subject to try and get him to talk.

"So, you? Eating fruit? No fish today?" She asked mockingly, knowing full well that there were plenty of fish in the river.

"Nope." He knew she was prying and wasn't going to fall victims to her interrogations.

Aang looked back to Katara, concerned for Toph. "Is she coming back soon, do you know?

"I'm not sure," she answered, changing her focus from Sokka to Aang. "I had her calmed down a little when she left me, but she was still really in an uproar. She absolutely refused to tell me what the problem was though..." she trailed off, glaring at Sokka once again. She knew this was somehow his fault. This time Sokka had something to say.

"She's always upset about something. It's probably some stupid girl thing." He said, still unable to meet her eyes.

Before she could press him again for more information Toph came walking up from the river bend, the same way she had left. As the silence enveloped the group, Toph got feeling the sense that they had just been talking about her. The tension could have been cut with a throwing knife. Toph ignored the atmosphere around them all and flopped down next to Katara, acting natural.

"So, what's for dinner guys?" Toph broke the ice, the silence killing her. Katara was happy to oblige.

"Aang seems to have found lots of fruit. We've got moon peaches, some lychee nuts, and this one that is really big and I can't remember what it's called, but it's delicious." She said, passing her one of the mystery fruit. Toph took a big bite and wiped the juices off her face with the back of her hand.

"So what, no fish? No meat?" Toph asked. Aang was quick to answer her, unaware that she was trying to cause trouble.

"No, apparently Sokka's fishing skills aren't very good when it's hotter than the sun outside." He laughed out while Toph smirked.

Sokka gave her a dirty look, one that didn't go unnoticed by his sibling which frustrated her even more. She felt she was missing something big. But before Katara could say a word, Sokka threw away his peach pit and pulled himself off the ground with a soft grunt.

"I guess I'll just go try again..." he said flatly, walking off toward the shore of the river and picking up his previously discarded pole, sitting on the edge of the river bank with no boulder to sit on now and out of earshot from the three. There was a brief moment of silence before Katara spoke.

"Are we all gonna be okay?" She asked slowly, looking over to Toph.

"Maybe." She said with attitude.

Katara rolled her eyes and looked to Aang pointedly. A look that said 'You're the Avatar, fix this.' Aang sighed and scooted closer to Toph, speaking in an extra calming voice.

"Toph, what happened while we were separated?" He asked, his eyes filled with concern for his friend. He couldn't imagine what could be potentially tearing their group apart. Toph sighed and finished her fruit, shrugging as she tossed the remnants to the side.

"Things were said, rocks were thrown, feelings got hurt. Nothing special."

The lovebirds shared a glance and waited for more details but they didn't come easily. Aang leaned closer to her and tried again, this time with a little more authority in his voice.

"I can't do my Avatar duty by keeping peace if I don't know how to fix it."

"You can't make this better..." she whispered softly, mirroring her previous conversation with Sokka.

Katara took hold of Toph's hand. "Please tell us what he did to make you so angry..."

"He didn't do anything. I was just being stupid. I was just trying to help..." she signed and slipped her hand put of Katara's, standing up and walking off toward her tent.

"Don't you any fish?" She called to her friend.

"I'm suddenly not very hungry..." she said as she climbed into her little self made home, bending up the door and blocking all other communication from the group.

"Great, now we have two in dire moods." Aang said softly, looking from Toph's tent to Sokka perched on the river's edge, still concentrating on fishing.

She stayed in there the rest of the night, mostly thinking up arguments in her head that she would have snappy comebacks for. The more she fumed, the more she realized she was angry with both of them.

_Why did I even bother? _She thought._ I shouldn't feel this way...why the hell am I so worked up? I did like Suki. I was happy that he was happy, right? Because he's my friend. So why do I feel all this rage about his depression? Am I actually angry at him, the situation, myself... or Suki for leaving him?_

That last thought made her stomach drop.

_ What if all this anger is misdirected and I just screwed up a perfectly good friendship? What if I hate Suki for doing this to him, and since she's not here, I'm taking it out on Sokka. But he still loves her, right? Otherwise he wouldn't be this depressed._

" UGH, DAMNIT!" She yelled in her tent, pounding her fist into the ground like she had been for a few hours now. The ground was no longer hard... it had been beaten into sand by her outbursts.

_When did this all get so complicated? We can save the world together no problem. But when it comes to relationships..._

She shook her head and curled her knees to her chest on the soft ground. She felt that she was upset more often than usual, especially when it came to him. In fact, her thoughts had seemed to revolve around him lately and she had no explanation. Even before he was like this, she often found herself wondering about him when she was away from the group. She cared about Katara and Aang and Zuko... but she never wanted to send a message to them. Not like she did to him. But she couldn't. And would refuse to have someone else write a message for her - that would be stupid. How would she read his reply?

Toph was about to give up this emotional self abuse and get some sleep when she felt someone walking around the camp site. She recognized those heavy footsteps. For a while he was over by the fire, but then she could sense him pacing outside her tent, the vibrations and the tension of his close presence driving her insane in a way she couldn't label as anger. After a few anxious moments of just feeling his pace back and forth she bent her whole tent down.

"Is there something specific you need from me or are you just trying to keep me up all night?"

Sokka stood there dumbfounded before he realized she would have felt him moving around for a while now. He rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand.

"Sorry... um, you didn't get any fish earlier... so I wanted to bring you some but I wasn't sure if I should wake you... It's fresh." He said, handing her the warm stick that two fish where poked through.

She took the fish and ate silently as he crouched down to sit in front of her. When she was finished she tossed the bones and stick to the side. She had actually been starving but didn't want to go back on her previous dramatic exit.

"Thanks..." She said and trailed off into silence, the fragile state of their friendship coming to her mind and making her very anxious.

"Can we... talk?" He asked tenderly.

"I don't know, can we?" She asked rather curtly, extracting a sigh of exasperation from him.

"Look. I am sorry about how I acted earlier. I know you and I are not exactly touchy feely with our problems like my sister and Aang are. And I know you were somehow trying to help in your own way..." He hesitated as he placed his hands on her arms. "I want us to be okay. I don't want to fight with you or ignore you or anyone else..."

The warmth of his hands on her skin made her feel something she didn't recognize. It was instant, strong, and it made her feel like her stomach was filled with buttermoths. Through this simple gesture she knew they were going to be okay. And then she realized, it was just the two of them. No one around to retell her in this moment if she were to show any sign of weakness. She turned her face up towards the sound of his voice and wore a distressing look on her face.

"Sokka, I just want you back." It came out soft and genuine, something not seen from her very often. Sokka was surprised that someone so stubborn on the outside could be so concerned and caring... that she could show so much emotion out of her eyes that couldn't search his own. She had failed to mention how everyone else wanted him back to normal and he caught that, feeling something he hadn't felt in a while; loved. Not necessarily the level he had from Suki, but something on some level made him feel better. And in that one sentence he found his resolve to make this better. For her, for everyone.

"It will be better from here on out." He believed out loud and she heard the smile in his voice. He surprised her by coming closer to her and giving her a quick but tight embrace. As he got off the ground to walk away from her, he half turned to her.

"Toph?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

She smiled and he did too and he walked away into his own tent as she bent hers up again, curling up on the sandy ground and sleeping with ease.


	3. Questions

**A/N: I have returned, bearing a long chapter! This is where the fun begins so strap in for a ride with laughs and feels. I was originally going to have this chapter be two parts, but I chose not to. Be happy I didn't. No promises for future chapters though because we have two stories going on here ( AKA two couples at ****completely**** different relationship levels ). As always I don't own a single thing. Bryke - keep doing whatchya do! Please review. It's pretty much the only thing keeping this gravy train rolling.**

Aang was the first to wake up that morning, as usual. The pink dawn looked innocent enough but brought with it an even hotter day than the previous. He snuck off into Katara's tent and lay beside her, leaning over her to kiss her on the cheek. The pressure of his lips made her stir until her blue eyes fluttered open, focusing on his grey ones. She smiled sleepily and reached her fingers up to her face, combing back the mess of hair out of her eyes,

"Good morning ,Sweetie."

"Good morning, Beautiful." He replied with his own smile, meaning every word.

She was in her own happy little world until she realized that they were alone together in her tent, unsupervised by her brother.

"You shouldn't be in here. Is Sokka still asleep?" She asked, awfully panicky for so early in the morning.

"Can't you hear him snoring? He's out like a candle." Aang affirmed with a chuckle.

She was quiet for a moment and then actually could hear him snoring on the other side of the camp. She relaxed and laughed softly, sitting up to stretch. When she did her covers feel around her, revealing that she was only in her bindings. Aang blushed and tried to look away, but the seventeen-year-old had blossomed into a water tribe goddess. Although he had seen her many times like this, he yearned to know what she looked like under those thin, tight strips of fabric that barely contained her developed chest.

_ Now is not the time for those thoughts! _ He scolded himself, looking away finally.

She rubbed her eyes and looked around her tent for her tunic top.

"Are we leaving already?"

"Yeah. We'll see how far we get. It's not like we're in a rush to get there, and we have to think about Appa. It's already so hot out and the sun has barely risen..."

"That's okay. Sometimes half the fun of a trip is the journey." She said, getting up on her knees to wrap herself with the long navy shirt and tie it at the sides. Aang didn't look where he wanted to look, her rear end. He was blushing when he decided to leave, having had enough of a view of her.

"I'll see if the others are up..." He said, exiting her little tent while rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

The sun's rays hit him and he instantly decided it was going to be another shirtless and rolled up pants day. He strolled over to Sokka's tent and suddenly didn't hear snoring he had just a few moments ago.

"Hey Sokka, you up?" He said, poking the tent a few times. It was a few moments before a groggy response came.

"Yeah..." He yawned inside the tent and stretched on the ground. "Just trying to wake up all the way..."

"Alright, well, we're leaving soon so when you can, start packing up."

"Mmkay..."

Aang then made the trip over to Toph's little earth tent, but before he arrived, it was bent down quickly to his shock.

"Good, you're up!" He said with a squeak of surprise.

"Yeah, I've been up for a while actually." She said softly, folding her legs flat and grabbing her ankles.

"Oh, is something wrong? You and Sokka are usually the last ones up."

"No nothing important. Just thinking about stuff..." She trailed off into an uncomfortable silence.

"Okay... well we're leaving soon so pack when you can. We're gonna stop at the nearby village for supplies and then we're off."

"Alright. I don't have much really... I think my clothes are already packed, so I'm pretty much ready when you all are."

"Okay, good. I want to get going soon before it really heats up."

The group packed at a lazy pace, the heat really bearing down on them. Once everything was pack they all climbed onto Appa and flew to the village. They bought supplies that consisted of mostly food, fishing bait, and medical bandages. Katara stopped to buy a few blocks of a perfumed soap she liked. It was a setback money wise as it was a luxury, but she couldn't help it. After the village they headed northeast toward the fire nation, making their way across more earth kingdom territory then they had previously. By the time the sun was starting to set, Appa was exhausted from the heat. Aang apologized to his companion and landed them at the base of a huge mountain peak, a river carving a small canyon down the side and passing nearby from where they landed. It was always a good idea to land near a source of water. When they did land, Appa just collapsed onto his belly, completely overheated. Everyone climbed down and was quick to unpack his load to give him some breathing room.

"Is it just me, or is this the hottest summer we've ever experienced together?" Aang complained as he saw Appa panting.

"It's not just you." Katara huffed as her and Sokka set Appa's saddle on the ground along with their supplies. "I really envy you boys. You get to go around topless while Toph and I have to suffer through shirts and bindings!"

Aang didn't even think before speaking to her. "You can take off your tunic, I won't mind." It was like he had no shame.

"Aang, dude, that's my sister." Sokka said with his 'Oogie' face.

"Hey, look who's actually talking today!" Toph said from behind him, crossing her arms under her chest with a smile.

"I have to say something! I can't have him ogling my baby sister!" He yelled defensively, sounding much more like himself.

"But she had bindings on. And they waterbend like that together all the time, so how would this be different?"

Sokka just stood there for a second, unable to find a good reason. Instead, he chose to evade the situation.

"I don't have time to deal with this banter. Someone has to go get firewood!" He said, stomping off into the forest in his rolled up pants and no shirt, leaving Aang and the two girls laughing like children at his clear defeat. When the laughing fit was over, Katara put on her scolding face.

"You really shouldn't provoke him like that, Aang. Especially in the state he's been in."

"I wasn't trying to make Sokka upset. Sometimes I just think out loud."

"Ah, don't worry about it Twinkletoes," Toph interjected, waving her arm in the air. "Something tells me he's going to be acting a lot more like himself."

The two were curious about why that was, but didn't press her for details. With everything unpacked and the sky growing darker, Katara turned to Toph with an idea.

"Hey, there is a river not far from here that's coming down from the mountains. I bet the water is nice and cool." She sang with suggestion in her voice. Toph picked up on her hint.

"Normally I don't care about being that clean, but I hate hearing you nag at me and it's so hot... so yeah, okay. Let's go take a bath." She conceded easily, shrugging her shoulders.

"Alright! Bath time!" Aang shouted enthusiastically, assuming he was going.

"Nu-uh Mister Arrowhead! This is girl time." Katara stated.

"Hey, I need a bath too, we've been sweating all day!"

"Exactly. And ladies always go first." She said firmly, going through her supplies for one of the bricks of soap she purchased and a comb.

"So what am I supposed to do? We have tons of food and it's getting dark out." He said, pretending to be afraid of the dark.

"Sokka will be back soon and then you can light a fire for light and have some guy time. Besides, it's a full moon tomorrow night so it won't be that dark out." She said firmly again, ending the conversation and taking Toph's arm, leading her towards the river.

"Fine!" He called to their backs. "Your plan sounds boring anyway!" He huffed and crossed his arms, acting a little childish.

"Ooh this water feels so refreshing!" Katara sighed as she slipped her dark unclothed body in the water up to her waist, holding Toph's hand as they waded in together. Toph let go and sunk her nude body down, sitting on the sandy river bottom, the water coming up to her neck.

"Yeah, I'm not so hot anymore. I can't see, but I'm not dying from heat exhaustion. If it wouldn't bother anyone I would have been naked all day." She said with a laugh. Katara giggled uncontrollably, sinking herself into the water beside Toph.

"Can you imagine their reactions?" She snorted and laughed even harder.

"Poor, innocent, Aang would be scared for life!" Toph laughed out, holding her sides.

Katara's laughter fell in intensity to a small chuckle as she came behind Toph with the soap, beginning to wash her friend's hair.

"He's not that innocent... I don't think..." She trailed off, suddenly becoming very concerned with Toph thick dirty hair, lathering it up from root to tip and scrubbing hard, rinsing and repeating. Toph was unsure if she wanted to know and was quiet for sometime before the curiosity bubbled out of her and made her ask.

"You two haven't..." she could bring herself to ask, not wanting to say it out loud.

"No. But I know he thinks about it a lot." She said quietly, rinsing Toph's hair one more time before washing her own.

"Do you want to?" Toph inquired rather boldly. Katara was surprised at the sudden turn of this conversation. She blushed, trying to focus on her hair washing,

"I do... and I know he does... don't you ever...?" She dropped off wondering if Toph had ever has those types of feelings.

"I want to someday... but right now I don't have anyone to give me those feelings.." She said softly. They stopped talking for a while, the only sounds were that of Katara washing her hair and body with the soft splashes of water and drippings off her body in the moonlight. When she was clean she handed the soap to Toph. She stood to clean her own body when she paused.

"Can I ask you a question Katara?"

"Anything." She said, feeling closer to Toph in this conversation than she ever had. Toph washed herself while she spoke.

"When did you know you liked Aang?"

Katara smiled. "I've never not liked him."

Toph chuckled. "I mean it. When did you realize you loved him? That he was the one?"

Katara was quiet as she rinsed her hair out again, thinking for a while.

"There was this one time... I saw a fortune teller-"

"You actually believe in that crap?"

"Do you want to hear the story or not?" She snapped at her.

"Okay, okay... go on."

"Anyway, I saw this fortune teller in a village and she said I was going to marry a very powerful bender. As our stay there continued, she read the clouds to tell if the nearby volcano was going to erupt. She gave good news, but her prediction was wrong. Terribly wrong. The volcano erupted with amazing and terrifying force! We had to dig a trench around the village to stop the lava flow from pouring over the village but it wasn't enough. It was overflowing, about to destroy the entire village. That's when Aang used his amazing bending to cool the lava flow and saved the entire village. Sokka and I saw the whole thing. Sokka said that he forgot sometimes how powerful of a bender Aang was... and it just clicked. Aang is the most powerful bender in the whole world, and I didn't figure out her prediction until that very moment."

Toph was silent for a while, rinsing herself in the cool water before responding and handing her the soap back.

"I wish I could have been there to feel that. Must have been pretty profound moment, despite the fortune teller mumbo jumbo."

They both smiled and relaxed in the water for a while, not wanting to leave the crisp river and go back into the hot night air. Toph starting thinking again and became curious about something else.

"Katara... what does it feel like when you first start to like someone?"

She came behind Toph and combed her hair out, thinking.

"It's hard to explain... I think it's different for everyone. But for me... it started out that he was all I could think about. Not in a sexual way, just constantly worrying about him or just thinking of things to talk to him about. Soon I started to over think everything I said and did around him. Then every time we would touch my stomach would do flips and everything he said to me completely captivated my attention..." She paused, realizing she was probably giving way too many details. "Sorry for gushing, you probably didn't need that."

"No no, I asked..." She said quietly, thinking about her own life and if she ever had any of those symptoms. It was quiet again before Katara changed the subject.

"We should probably wash our bindings and clothes while we're out here."

"Probably."

Katara raised her naked body from the cool water and grabbed all their clothes from the shore, washing them with the help of waterbending and Toph.

Aang sat with his hands hanging over his knees in a slight pout, waiting for Sokka to return to camp. Toph had a point to her argument; there was no difference between seeing Katara while they were waterbending practice and seeing her on dry land without her tunic.

Although lately he had been finding it harder and harder to focus on the waterbending part of their practice sessions. He was having all of these explicit thoughts about her, so much so that it was at the point where he had trouble looking at her fully clothed without feeling shame. He was even having dreams about her. Very, very detailed dreams. Dreams he wished were real. He felt so disgraceful about all these thoughts and feelings he was having about her. He didn't know it was normal for a young man his age to have these urges. Often when he woke up in the morning after those amazingly real imaginings and he would have to meditate for hours to calm himself - and certain parts of his body - down. He held his head in his hands until Sokka came back, his arms full of nice thick logs. Sokka eyed him curiously.

"What's wrong with you? Get shot down by my sister for a make out session?' He asked jokingly.

Aang thought to himself that while he was happy Sokka was starting to feel better, he was in no mood to joke about his relationship. He responded by glaring at him until he put the wood in a nice pile, ready for it to be lit. Sokka caught his stare and threw his hands up in defense.

"Okay, sorry I asked... you gonna light the fire or make me do it?" He changed the subject.

Aang shot a tiny fireball into the pile baring the same disgruntled look on his face. When the fire caught on the logs finally, he grunted and flung himself on his back, spreading out and looking at the sky, lost in thought. After a while, Sokka asked again.

"Seriously, what's wrong?" He inquired across the fire that lit the otherwise dark campsite.

"I can't talk about it..." He said in a miserable tone.

"Look buddy, not talking about things doesn't make them go away, and that's coming from me." He pointed a thumb to his chest and paused. No response.

"What's the problem?" He tried again, really concerned about him now.

"I can't tell you... you'll think I'm a freak..."

"Aang. You can bend all the elements, have access to the massive power of the universe at your fingertips, and you have thousands of past lives. You are as freaky as they come."

"Gee thanks. I feel SO much better Sokka." He huffed, turning his head to give him another glare.

"What I mean is that whatever you are dealing with, even if it's weird Avatar stuff, we are here for you... so please talk to me."

Aang pulled himself up and sat with his legs folded flat, not looking him in the eyes.

"Okay... so I've been going through this weird thing... it's all I can think about... and sometimes I have to meditate for hours just to calm down... and I've been having these dreams..."

"So like nightmares?"

"Not really... it's like the exact opposite."

"You lost me."

Aang sighed with frustration. "It's like a nightmare because I wake up and I'm covered in sweat and breathing heavy, but nothing scary or terrible happens. They are really, truly good dreams..." he tried to explain.

"Oh... OH! Oh Spirits no!" Sokka screamed, shaking his head.

"What?" Aang asked, wondering what he did wrong.

"I am NOT having this conversation with you! Nu-uh!"

"See! I knew you would think I was a freak!"

Sokka groaned in annoyance at Aang's naive ways. "You are not a freak, but I am NOT going to have a conversation with you about your crazy sex dreams that include my baby sister!"

"Wait... you know what they are?" Aang asked, feeling some level of relief.

"Yeah. I'm a guy! All guys have them. Or was that not covered in your sex education at the air temple?" He asked, really uncomfortable with this discussion.

"Sokka, I was 12 when I left. No one ever took the time to talk to me about all this becoming a man stuff..." he said sadly, looking down to the ground. Now Sokka felt like a huge jerk. He sighed and came over to his side of the fire, sitting next to Aang and putting an arm on his shoulders.

"I'm sorry... I forget sometimes that even though you are so incredibly powerful, you have to go through the same changes I had to go through."

"I thought my voice was the only thing that changes."

Sokka groaned and turned to him, looking him in the eyes. "What do you need to know?"

"Are you sure you want to talk about this still? Because it mostly involves Katara..."

"I realize that... but who else are you going to talk to, Zuko?"

Aang shook his head. "I don't know him like I know you... it would be more awkward than this is right now."

"Let's get this over with then. One night, right now. Ask any question and I will answer to the best of my ability." Sokka said, feeling preemptive regret that he is allowing this conversation to continue.

"Give me a second..." Aang's mind buzzed with questions. He couldn't decide what to ask first. he decided to start with the real problem. "How do you not have those dreams?"

"Uncontrollable. Even if you actually do it, you'll still have those dreams, just not as often." He stated, speaking from experience. Aang was quiet as more questions tried to bubble forth.

"Oh okay... how do you know when... if she's ready to..." He couldn't bring himself to actually ask.

"Can't and won't help you there. This is purely informational. I'm not going to help you get laid."

"But how am I supposed to know if she's ready for that!? Aren't I supposed to make the first move? What if I do! Then what? What if she's not ready and she gets upset and our whole relationship starts to crumble in right before me?!" He was working himself up into a panic.

"Whoa, calm down. Calm down Aang." He said putting his hands on his shoulders to keep the airbender grounded. "You'll be fine."

"How can you possibly know that?" He raised, still in reality anxious.

"As much as this grosses me out to know and say this, I can tell in the way she look at you." Sokka trailed off and Aang calmed down a little more.

"How do you mean?" He asked, trying to think if Katara had ever given him a special look before.

"I can see it. She's 17 Aang... and don't tell anyone I told you this, but I think they want it as bad as we do."

Aang was speechless. He couldn't picture Katara, _his_ Katara, having those types of thoughts about him. Which brought him to his next question.

"In the morning... after those dreams, is there a faster way to... calm down?" He asked with a gulp of hesitation, both curious and extremely embarrassed.

"You can take for that yourself."

"I know, but meditating takes so long..." He replied, so naive.

"No... I mean _TAKE CARE OF IT YOURSELF_."

Aang just stared at him in confusion. Sokka groaned and leaned forward, whispering what he really meant in his ear. Aang jerked away from Sokka in surprise.

"You can do that?" his eyes were wide with both horror and amazement.

"That or wait for her to be ready. Those are your two options."

Aang was quiet for a while, trying to muster up some more courage to be bold. "I'm still having trouble with my dreams though..."

"Like how?"

"Well... we're not exactly... because I don't know how..." he said, rubbing the back of his neck with complete awkwardness.

"Wait. You're not even having sex in your dreams because you don't know how?"

"It's not my fault! I've never exactly seen a naked woman before!" He said, blushing like crazy, crossing his arms defensively.

Sokka just busted out with laughter. He couldn't help it. The all powerful Avatar, who singlehandedly defeated Ozai, of whom had the power of Sozin's comet, had no idea how a woman looked naked.

"You are the worst confidant ever." Aang huffed and looked away from him. When Sokka could breathe again, he looked over to the pouting Avatar.

"I'm sorry, I guess I just thought you had."

"When have I had the time?"

"True. But then what do you even dream about?"

Aang gulped hard and looked away. "Her... touching me..."

Sokka suddenly felt sorry for him and his lack of experience. "It will happen when the time is right." He said calmly.

"But what if I don't know what to do?"

"Trust me, if I know my sister, she'll tell you exactly what to do. Now no more talking about this. my skin is crawling with oogies." He said with a shudder.

"Okay, thanks Sokka."

"Yeah yeah..." He said getting up from the ground and going through their supplies for food.

"Hey, can you grab me a melon? I'm starving." Aang asked, hearing something behind him. He turned his body to see Toph and Katara walking into the camp, clothes and bodies dry and clean. Katara caught Aang's eyes and they both swiftly looked away from each other, both a little embarrassed about the talks they had just had. Toph was the first to speak as they approached.

"Hey, what do we have for food tonight?" She said, rubbing her stomach with longing for food. Sokka responded to her while going through the supplies.

"Tons of dried meat, and of course melons for the Melon Lord." He laughed, walking over to Toph and handing her a big juicy melon and then Aang his.

"All hail the Melon Lord!" Toph laughed and sat near the fire. Katara stood for a second before she sat awkwardly next to Aang, avoiding his eyes.

"Here." Sokka said, handing her some food and sat next to Toph, chowing down.

"Thanks, you boys can go take your baths now. And wash your clothes while you're down there." She nagged. Still the mother hen.

"No, it's not like we don't have more clothes packed. You're the waterbender, you wash them. That's girl's work anyway." Sokka said, nonchalantly.

"Excuse me?" Katara fired back, forgetting her previous embarrassment now enraged.

"He's just joking... right Sokka?" Aang said, giving him another glare.

Sokka hesitated. "Yes. Ha. ha." He flatly lied, of which Toph knew.

"You're such a sexist pig. And here I thought you had improved." Toph said, wiping her mouth from the melon juices.

"Hey, I have gotten way better. I just think someone who can magically swirl around soap and water should do the washing of clothes."

Katara opened her mouth to yell at her idiot of a brother but Aang put a hand on hers.

"I will be more than willing to wash our clothes." He said smoothly, finishing his fruit and patting Katara's hand. Aang stood up and stretched. "Come on Sokka." He waved and walked off towards the river. Sokka grudgingly followed and Toph snickered, getting a look from Katara.

Soon the boys were back, as clean as the girls, and as night had now fallen they were all ready for bed. Sokka and Katara went to their tents, Toph bent up hers, and Aang lay out under the stars, everyone passing out very quickly in the still steamy night.


	4. Escalate

**A/N: Here's Ch 4! Please keep in mind that this has been about Toph and Sokka a lot so far because you have to build their relationship. When I do finally put in Kataang stuff later in this chapter, it's easy because they are already established and canon. Me writing Tokka... I want to make it a struggle. To me that makes it more believable. Also my line breaks aren't working to symbolize scene changes so I tried something different this time, I'll see if it works. Anyway, enough of me ranting. Please as always review, as if you don't, I don't know if I am pleasing you. I own nothing, Bryke owns it all blah blah blah.**

The room was filled with the smell of burning candles. It was at least midnight as the cool air rushed in through the open window, bringing relief from the hot summer night.

"Your hands are surprisingly soft." You could hear the smile in his voice.

"Shh, you're ruining the moment..." She scolded.

Silence was only held for a few passing moments.

"You have no idea how beautiful you are." He whispered in a husky tone.

"Stop talking."

Hands were running over a toned abdomen... up to a muscular chest... around to strong shoulders. Fingers tracing patterns down strapping arms, touching hands together. Those hands that were together were torn apart quickly, placed on hips, thighs... feeling the very pronounced muscles of a rear end.

"Please finish soon... I can't take you teasing me like this." He begged

"I'm not teasing you, I'm getting to know you better." She defended.

"Can I get to know you better?" He asked rather boldly.

"I've been in front of you for a while now, haven't you seen enough?"

"But I want to touch... you don't understand..."

Hands were now on her waist, trailing slowly up her sides and stopping just at the sides of her breasts.

"You're hands are rough... but warm."

The man's hands covered her breasts and the feeling sent shivers down her spine, feeling an ache between her legs as he ran his thumbs over her nipples very lightly.

"But they can be delicate..." He purred to her softly before suddenly wrapping her in an embrace, his lips crashing down on hers. Both sets of lips were warm and chapped, but longed for much more. He broke the kiss. "...when they're not being rough."

Toph sat up in her earth tent with a gasp, breathing quickly and sweating from head to toe. It had been a dream. All of it. She was alone and clothed. She couldn't grasp what has just happened to her at first. Her heart was feeling like it would beat out of her chest any moment and she felt an ache between her legs, along with the fact that her lower bindings were slick with something other than sweat. As she tried to calm herself down she sensed that no one else was up, giving her some relief that she could process what had just happened to her alone. It had felt so real. She could have sworn she was with him... feeling his hands on her body... she getting a better look at him with her own light touches... and that voice. That vivid voice that was unmistakable. _HE_ had been the one doing all of those things to her. Touching her, kissing her, wrapping her in that tight and strong embrace.

Up until this point she had never questioned the relationship status between herself and Sokka. They were just friends. She felt something she didn't often feel - shame. How on earth could she face him after having these thoughts about him? She was beginning to question why she had even had the dream, wondering if she, somewhere in the depths of her heart, had feelings stronger than that of friendship towards Sokka. She began to remember the conversation he had earlier with Katara describing what it feels like when you are falling in love.

She remembered when Sokka touched her arms and how her skin seemed to burn at his touch earlier. How her thoughts had been revolving around him lately. She tried to reason with herself that it was out of worry, because she was his friend. But was that really the reason?

After her breathing became more stable she bent down her tent. She was met with cooler air than had been surrounding her, leading her to reason it was the middle of the night, though still very warm. She got off the ground with a soft grunt and went over by the supplies, looking for a change of clothes. The noise woke Aang up, always a light sleeper.

"Toph?" he asked sleepily and rubbed his eyes. "You okay?"

"Yeah, go back to sleep." She whispered rather harshly, grabbing what she heeded and walking back to where her tent had been, bending it back up quickly.

Aang shrugged off her sour attitude and fell back asleep, choosing to worry about her in the morning. Toph changed in her tent and curled back up on the earth hoping to not have another dream like that again and refusing to think about why she had it in the first place.

Most of the group didn't wake up until late afternoon, which was perfect for their new traveling plans that Aang had come up with. He had tried taking Sokka's advice about calming down in the morning, but to him it didn't feel right. It was not _his_ hands he was dreaming about anyway. So he had meditated while the others slept. When everyone finally did rise to greet the blazing hot sun, he asked them to all come together.

"What's Up?" Sokka asked, still a little groggy.

"Look, it's too hot out to be traveling during the day anymore. I think it would be best for all of us to travel at night when it's cooler and rest during the day."

"I like that plan better. I'm only wearing pants right now because we're in a group, otherwise I'd be streaking by now."

"Gross Sokka. Real nice imagery." Katara complained, folding her arms.

Toph stayed silent for two reasons. First because she had said almost the exact same thing yesterday about herself. And second, she found herself actually wanting to know what guys were like under those pants. It had been described to her before, but she wanted to feel it for herself. And that's when she dropped the thought, being uncomfortable as the subject had been brought up by him. The person she was trying not to think about, especially in that circumstance. She needed help, she needed someone to talk this over with.

"That's fine, Katara and I had stuff to do." She said quickly.

"We do?" She asked, unaware of said plans. She watched Toph go over to her tent and grab a pile of clothes, and stomp back over to her.

"Yes. Come with me Sugar Queen." She snapped and grabbed her arm with her free hand, dragging her towards the river. When they were out of earshot, Aang turned to Sokka.

"What do you think that was about?"

"Girl stuff..." He said with a shrug, walking over and sitting in the shade.

Toph was at the river's edge ripping her clothes off and throwing them into a pile with her other dirty ones before Katara had time to stop her.

"What on earth are you doing?" She asked her friend, staring at her like she was a crazy person as Toph practically ran into the river completely naked.

"I just really need to be clean... and I need those clothes cleaned too Sweetness."

"You just took a bath last night. You never bathe two days in a row."

"Yeah, well, I am feeling particularly dirty."

"But you love dirt. You call it a healthy coating of earth! What has gotten into you?"

"Come in here if you want to talk to me! I'm not going to let the whole forest know my business!" She snapped back at her from the river. Katara was very confused at her attitude. She was going to question her but thought for a moment.

"Fine, but I'm not getting naked; it's broad daylight!" She agreed, taking off her outer garments and grabbing Toph's pile of clothes, wading into the water next to her friend. She didn't provoke Toph for information, just began to wash her laundry. She knew whatever was on her mind would come out eventually, since it was obviously really bothering her. After a few moments she finally cracked and Toph started.

"Do you ever have really powerful dreams?"

Katara was quiet for a while. She did. She had many in fact. Some involving Azula, some about her mother, and others about Aang.

"I do. Some are very frightening, some make me wake up with heartache so deep I cry, and some make me feel like I am going to explode."

"Well, I had an incredibly intense dream... I've never had one like this before..."

"I didn't even know you could dream, no offense. It's just hard for me to picture dreams without being able to see like I see. I know you see differently than we do... do you need to talk about it?" She asked carefully.

"I was with... someone. My hands were all over his body, trying to get a better look at him... and then he was touching me... and then the next thing I know I'm sitting up in my tent, breathing heavy all alone and my lower bindings are soaked. And let me tell you something, I sure as hell didn't pee all over myself!"

"Oh Toph! Your first sex dream? Tell me everything! Who was it with? What happened exactly?" Katara gushed, suddenly forgetting she had laundry to do.

"Knock it off! It's not something to celebrate! I'm really confused about a whole bunch of stuff now!" She yelled at her, making Katara flinch back. After Katara regained her composure she asked a very touchy question.

"Toph... are you going through your special time right now?" She asked softly.

"No. But my hormones are raging apparently." She answered with a huff, blowing the bet bangs out of her face.

"Why is this bothering you so much? It's normal. I've been having them for a few years now." She said calmly, trying to understand why her friend was finding such discomfort.

"It's not about that fact that I had the dream. It is about who it was with!"

Katara tried to connect the dots. She could only think of a few guys it could have been with, and she became tense, thinking she knew the answer to her next question.

"Who was it with Toph?" She asked sternly, prepared to hear Aang's name.

"Let's just say he's a meat and sarcasm kind of guy."

Shock. Pure shock washed over her face. She was unsure if she heard her correctly. Aang and Toph trained together so closely all the time to keep their bodies limber and for fun. She was sure that had formed a bond in Toph's mind. But Sokka? Her brother? The person Toph fought most with? It left her in utter disbelief. She was silent for a very long time, the clothes long forgotten.

"Are you freaked out?" Toph asked, curling her knees to her chest as she sat in the cool water.

Katara shook her head. "No... Just surprised. I swear I thought you were going to say Aang."

"Twinkletoes? No way. He's too soft. Not my type. He couldn't handle me."

"But apparently my brother could?"

"I don't know... I'm so confused..." She sunk her head underwater for a moment and came back up for air. Her stomach was completely knotted, making her feel sick.

"Is this why you've been fighting with him so much? Because you want him to be over Suki?"

"I have no idea!"

"Oh my... this is so complicated."

"I know."

"Do you? Do you really understand how messed up this could get? You can't let him know you like him. He'll just rebound. He's still not over her."

"Don't you think I know that? Besides, I don't even know if I like him!"

"Oh and not to mention the age gap..."

"Excuse me? You are two years older than Aang!"

"Yes, but you are three years younger than both Suki and Sokka. He's 18 and in the prime of life. I'm pretty sure they had sex a lot. You're 15, are you even ready for that type of relationship?"

"Are you deaf woman? I said I don't even know if I like him! Just because I had an amazing dream doesn't mean I have feelings for him."

"So your dream was amazing, huh?" Katara tried to hold back her grin.

"...I mean it was intense... shut up!" She said as she splashed water towards Katara, who couldn't help but giggle.

"I've had some pretty amazing dreams myself if you ever want to share..."

"It's about your brother. Are you sure you want to hear it?"

"Well, okay, maybe not..." Katara said, remembering that key factor and not exactly wanting to picture her brother in any sexual situation.

"Besides, it was just one dream... I still haven't figured out what it means to me."

"You will. You just need time to process this. It might help if you talk to Sokka. And I mean actually talk to him, not argue. Have you gotten the chance to do that lately?"

"Yeah, but it wasn't for very long."

"Well, you will get another chance tonight. It's a full moon and I'm going to make Aang go waterbending with me after we land at our next camp."

"Right, the whole powerful-with-the-full-moon thing."

"It's true. It's when I'm filled with so much power... he's a waterbender so he can feel it too, but not like I can."

She finished washing Toph's clothes and carried them with her near the shore, Toph following her. When they for on dry land, Katara bent the water right out of her own bindings and then Toph's clothes, handing them over to her pale naked body.

"See, dry as a bone. I'm already feeling the moons power."

"Why don't you use of of that powerful waterbending and dry my hair then?"

She laughed and did as her friend requested, waiting for her to be dressed before they headed back to camp. Late afternoon became evening soon enough and the group packed up camp while the sun sank over the mountains, getting Appa ready to go. Sokka looked over the now barren campsite and double checked every corner.

"Aang I think that's everything." He said, handing over the folded tents to him. Aang looked around as he took the tents and packed them onto the saddle, double checking.

"Yeah looks like it. Let's go girls!" He called over to Toph and Katara who were sitting under a tree, having a private conversation. The girls took their sweet time getting over to Appa, not wanting to end their hushed exchange.

"Today would be nice!" Sokka yelled, irritated as they were only halfway there at this point.

Toph finally gave Katara a small punch in the arm, both girls laughed, and the conversation was over, finally reaching Appa and the boys. Momo had been waiting on the saddle already, such a good lemur. Aang offered his hand to Katara as the usual gentleman and helped her up. Sokka took Toph's hand to help lift her up, but his rough warm hands sent her into a quick panic, making her rip her hand out of his.

"What's wrong?" Sokka asked, not sure what he had done.

Toph was silent for a moment as everyone watched her, Katara trying not to laugh.

"N-Nothing..." She said and lifted her hand for him to take once more. She was tiny - of course she needed help up onto Appa. She always did. And Sokka always helped her because Aang always helped Katara. Nothing unusual. So why was her heart pounding so fast as Sokka grabbed her waist now, pulling her into the saddle? She took note of his strength, wondering if he had always been that strong. She sat down where he had left her as he made one last check to make sure they had everything. Everything was packed, everyone was accounted for.

"Ready?" Aang asked from atop Appa's head.

"Looks like it." Sokka said, sitting down across from Toph and Katara at the back bear the supplies.

"Alright buddy, yip yip."

And off they flew into the cooler but still hot night, headed towards the fire nation.

Dawn was a few hours away when they decided to land. Another cool river ran through their campsite, happily avoiding dessert territory though it meant for a longer journey. Everything was unpacked and in record time, the absent sun a major factor in the speedy set up. It wasn't long before Katara was bothering Aang for a waterbending side trip.

"Sweetie, we just got here." He tried to reason with her, despite wanting nothing more than to see her in as little clothing as possible. He was tired from the trip.

"Aang, do you see that big white thing in the sky? It's called the moon. And it's full tonight and tonight only for the next month. I have to get this out of my system. Can't you feel the power coursing through your veins?"

"Yes, I do, but it was a long night and we all need to rest."

"Please Aang. I am begging you. Take me waterbending up the river. There is a waterfall and everything!" She pleaded with him, tugging on his arm like a child. He couldn't say no to her. She was the love of his life. He sighed and then responded.

"Alright, let's go. Sokka, Toph..." He trailed off, looking at the two. "Please don't fight again while we are gone."

"I don't think that is going to be a problem." Toph commented, sitting next to the fire that they had started.

"Yeah, we'll just chill out here while you go do your spirit empowered bending thing." Sokka said, sitting near Toph and relaxing on his back.

"Alright... we'll be back soon." He said as he was dragged off up river into the woods by Katara, eager to start and leaving the two alone.

Toph scoffed. "Waterbenders."

"I know right?" Sokka said, staring up at the stars. "Sometimes I think they use waterbending as an excuse to just go off and make out." he added with disgust clearly on his face.

"Even if they are, why should you care? I'm sure you had plenty of make out sessions and sexual encounters with Suki." She said rather boldly and she felt his heart race. She wasn't sure if it was because of the mention of Suki or Sex. Maybe both.

"That's different..." He said, feeling uncomfortable.

"How is that any different?" She asked dubiously.

"Because I'm older." He defended.

"Only by a year." She sneered.

"Okay, then he's too young!" He tried to support his point again.

"He's my age!" She said, starting to get irritated.

"Exactly my point! You are both too young for that."

"I think I can have sex whenever I want Sokka. Besides that, you were my age when you and Suki hooked up and don't even try to tell me that you didn't do anything. I'll know if you're lying!"

She could feel that his heart was pounding in his chest but he had no response for her. She was right and he had to deal with it. It was quiet for a while before Toph spoke again, but much softer this time.

"Even if they do make out, they haven't had sex yet."

"I know."

"How do you know?"

Sokka chuckled a little and leaned on his side, supporting himself on his arm and facing Toph. "You can't say anything but he's been having some pretty intense dreams... and he's never even seen a naked woman before."

"I've never seen a guy naked, so what?"

"So how can you even have those types of dreams if you don't know what it looks like? That's not very fulfilling."

"That doesn't determine whether the dream is sexual or not."

"And how are you an expert on this? You're blind!"

"Yeah, but being touched in a dream is enough for me." She said simply, not an ounce of shame in her voice. Sokka was taken aback. He truly couldn't comprehend what she was telling him.

"Girls don't have those dreams. Only guys do." He said, looking at her as if she were insane.

"No... I've had them and so has Katara. Did Suki never tell you girls have those too?"

He was silent for a long time. He was both confused and hurt. Confused at the thought of girls dreaming about sex. Hurt because something this insightful had been hidden from him.

"No... I guess there was a lot of miscommunication between us..." He trailed off sadly. Toph felt terrible that she had obviously hit a soft spot with him and immediately tried to help.

"Do you need to talk about it?"

"I'm not sure you could fully understand... you haven't..." He let the sentence hang out there suggestively.

"No, but I've had dreams so I can try and tolerate whatever it is that you need to say."

Sokka was quiet again, trying to figure out how to explain what his situation was like to someone who was a virgin. He sighed and sat up, scooting closer to her and facing her.

"She wasn't bold enough at first to tell me what she liked, so it wasn't as amazing for her as it was for me. Then when she did finally tell me, I did it wrong. And there was like this emotional rift between us that just kept growing and tearing at us... and we started to see less and less of each other..."

"So what, you just grew apart?" Toph asked as kindly as she could. Sokka looked to her and realized she was doing it again - being emotional and caring around him.

"Not exactly... our last night together was supposed to be so special. She was leaving for Kyoshi Island in the morning to see more of her family. She was so quiet... I should have seen it coming..." Sokka's eyes started to water and Toph could feel the heartache in his silence. She tried to make him continue.

"If you were growing apart, why are you upset still?"

Tears started streaming down his cheeks. "Because I was going to purpose to Suki. I had already made the betrothal necklace and everything... I was so stupid..." He was silent again besides a stifled sob. She crawled over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. Without warming he leaned into her, holding her in a tight embrace, letting out another sob into her hair. "I thought we were going to be together forever. I was so naive. I'm so stupid Toph..." He chuckled through the tears. "But you already knew that part."

She didn't know how to respond other than to return his embrace and softly stroke his back. "I am so sorry..."

She held him until his sobs ceased, which took a few minutes. When he finally did calm down, he leaned back and held her arms, wiping his face.

"You are such a good friend Toph... I'm not good at this sort of thing."

"Neither am I. I just go to my angry place usually."

Sokka let out a dark chuckle. "Yeah, I know you do."

Toph was quiet for a few moments. She thought over the whole situation and became angry. Suki broke up with him. She dumped him. And he was going to marry her. So they could be together more. So they could fix whatever was broken between them. And she wasn't willing to stay and try to work things out.

"She's the stupid one. She's missing out. One day, she'll figure out just how much she screwed up..." She said, allowing herself to be overcome by another emotion she still didn't recognize. It was the same feeling she had when he touched her arm, when he held her close. She let the emotion control her and she leaned forward and gave him a kiss on his tear soaked cheek without thinking of the consequences. Sokka was shocked as her pale lips pulled away from his dark skin. He held a hand up to his cheek that felt like it was burning where her lips had previously been. He was having a hard time processing what had just happened. As they sat there together by the fire, his continued silence set off alarms in her head and she started to panic.

"Uh... I'm gonna go for a walk..." She said, standing up to walk away. She didn't get far before a hand was at her wrist, pulling her down into a pair of strong arms, their bodies pressed against each others. Almost instantaneously, warm lips crashed down onto hers and she froze. His lips were chapped from the heat and rough with intention. Once she figured out what was happening, she quickly gave into his kiss. It turned from a rough encounter slowly to a soft and loving kiss, then to barely touching... and then it was over. She could feel both of their hearts pounding and she wasn't sure what to say as he wasn't letting go of her. She was so confused. Maybe he was confused.

"Did we just...?" She couldn't even put into words what had just happened.

"Yeah..." He sounded just as surprised as she felt.

"... I don't understand." She said simply. She was under the impression he was heartbroken over Suki still.

"Neither do I."

**A/N : Gonna leave you hanging here because this is just part one. Part two will be up sometime soon with Aang and Katara, so for all you Kataang fans out there, you won't want to miss it! It will be mature rated. I'm telling you once and I'll tell ya again when I post it. Please review and as always I appreciate all readers and followers. I am still very new to this writing thing so just thank you so much from the bottom of my heart! XOXO **


	5. Escalate Pt 2

**A/N : This is for audiences 18 years of age and over. If you are under 18 and your mom catches you reading this, I am NOT responsible. If you are under 18 and don't get caught... hey I did it too! Here is your Kataang. There will be plenty of them being together, but my main focus is actually Toph and Sokka. I tried to make that clear but one certain someone wasn't aware of that. I've tried changing the characters on and it won't change it so we'll all just have to deal. Please review! Also, I am still having trouble with the scene/time breaks so just try and read it the best you can. It's pretty obvious when the scene changes, but still.**

**Disclaimer portion - I don't own a thing! Bryke owns it all.**

Aang held her hand as they walked up river for a while. They were about half a mile from the camp before they could hear the crashing of the falls. It took some more walking still before they could finally see it. The waterfall was amazing in the moonlight, and the river was surprisingly calm. It was breathtaking.

"Isn't beautiful Aang?"

"It's perfect." He said, giving her a kiss on the cheek and letting go of her hand. The second he released her, her hands were at the ties of her tunic, quickly getting undressed and undoing her hair. The sight made Aang both blushed from her beauty and laughed at her impatience.

"Eager much?" He said, taking off his rolled up pants and getting down to his trunks.

"You know how Yue makes me feel... I have to do this." She said, her dark chocolate hair fanning around her in a attractive mane. She threw her clothes in a pile with his pants. He smiled and took her hand again and led them into the water until they were knee deep.

They separated then, leaving quite a space between them, and started with something simple, passing a medium sized stream of water back and forth between them. She sighed softly as the passed it between them, each time it came her way she exhaled with delight, but exerted a little more force each time while passing it back to Aang. He had to compensate for the force and slow it down before calmly sending it back to her. Back and forth, push and pull. She sent it to him harder each time, and each time he had to slow it down. Their little game of push and pull was turning into stop and go. He wouldn't return it to her with the force she was sending it. He didn't want to fight her, but bend with her. She continued to send it barreling towards him until finally he had to deflect it. It made a loud splash into the river next to him and he looked to her.

"Sweetie... calm down." He said softly, taking a moment to let her compose herself. He started over, pulling the stream from the river and calmly passing it to her. She sighed and passed it back to him, the feeling of this push and pull completely intoxicating her. It wasn't long before she was pushing harder again. Aang had to keep slowing it down before gradually sending it back to her. At which she would just whip it back at him. Not much time passed before he had to deflect it again with another rough splash.

"Katara, this isn't a fight." He said with his arms at his side, standing up straight and firm.

"Maybe it should be." She said and sent a large stream of water towards him, ready to douse him. He had a split second to react, sending a blade of air to slice it in half as it crashed back into the water on either side of him. He was starting to get frustrated with her. He could feel the power of the moon pulling at the ocean just like she could, but she was taking things too far.

"Stop this. This is crazy." He said, getting out of his water bending stance again, and holding his arms to the side, trying to keep calm.

"I need this. Fight me!" She called, sending another large stream of water to spin around where he stood. She was slowly shrinking the space between him and the water as the water spun faster and closer, creating a whirlwind of air around Aang. The situation was quickly getting out of hand and he was no longer calm.

"You want to fight me? FINE!" He replied, sending the torrent trapping him towards her with great force. He hoped she could dodge it because he sent it very hard and didn't want to hurt her through his frustration. She was ready and sent it flying to her left with a loud splatter into the river once again. There was no more hesitation between them. The skirmish was going to continue until one of them was down. This much was evident by Katara's powerful strikes, as she sent two tendrils quickly towards him, grabbing his wrists and holding his arms away from his body, freezing the water in place and sending a deluge toward him. He used his firebending to melt the ice quickly but couldn't get away from the wave that was sent his way, getting knocked down. When he resurfaced, he was angry with her, sending two tendrils towards her arms. She evaded with a nimble spin, flowing them back towards him using the momentum of his own power against him. He slipped between them safely, he thought, until his foot was frozen in place and another tsunami of a wave was coming his way.

He had had enough of this. He shot a fire jet at his foot to melt the ice and went into the avatar state, bending the enormous wave above and over himself. He came at her so fast she couldn't comprehend what was happening, riding on the water and when he reached her he grabbed her wrists, picking her up and continuing passed where they once were, riding the water all the way under the waterfall and to the stone wall behind it, bending the stone around her wrists that he now held above her head. His ethereal glow faded and he stood there, looking down at her. She was fighting against the earth holds, but it was no use.

"Let me go. I need to get this out of my system. You don't understand. It's not your native element."

"You need to calm down. You have never been like this before with me. Are you angry with me?" He asked, authority still ringing in his voice though his question was delivered in a kind matter.

"No... I just feel like I am going to explode! You don't understand..."

"I am a waterbender. I can feel the immense power running through me. I am also the Avatar. I feel so powerful all the time. But you don't see me trying to fight my friends or you for that matter." He said, looking at her trapped and helpless. He sighed and came up to her, placing his hands on her hips and touching his forehead to hers.

"Maybe we can talk this out. Explain what I'm not understanding." He said softly. Not a second later had her lips caught his in a fiery kiss that was unlike her without preceding ones. Aang hadn't been ready for it and he broke the kiss, eyeing her curiously.

"If I let you go, you have to promise not to attack anymore. Understand?"

She nodded quickly and he put his hands on her earth shackles, bending them away and letting her go, unharmed. The second her hands were free she wrapped them around his neck and shoulders, kissing him deeply. He closed his eyes and wrapped his pale arms around her dark figure, pressing her body to his. Suddenly her tongue was asking for entrance passed his lips and alarms went off in his head. It took everything he had to pull away from her soft, warm lips.

"Katara, you're confusing me. One minute you want to fight me, the next you are all over me. What is going on?"

"Ugh... I'm frustrated..." She growled, trying to pull him back down into another kiss. He denied her.

"Have I done something to make you feel this way?

"Yes and no..." She trailed off, her stomach doing flips. She had never felt this level of need for him before. He waited for her to explain herself as they stayed pressed together, neither wanting to let go. She looked up into his stormy grey eyes and then quickly look away, embarrassed about what she was getting ready to tell him.

"I'm frustrated about my feelings for you..."

His stomach dropped and heartache was clearly played out across his face. He let go of her and she look up, seeing the pain in his eyes.

"NO! Not like that! I love you! Oh Spirits, do I love you!" She amended quickly and pushed herself back into his arms. He hesitated but wrapped his arms around her again, pressing them together and kissing the top of her head.

"And I love you. More than you can imagine. Please explain to me how I can help." He said desperately.

She hesitated still but looked back up into his eyes, finding courage to say what she needed to say.

"I've been having dreams about us." She said, hoping he would grasp the point.

"So have I." He said simply. It wasn't a lie.

"No, I mean about us together."

"Yeah me too."

She was going to have to spell it out.

"In ways we've never been together before..."

His heart skipped a beat and he could swear there was something crawling in his stomach.

"You're not alone. What kind of things do you dream about?" He asked with a blush, trying to process that her mind might just be as lust filled as his was, unless he was mistaken.

"Very vivid, passionate dreams... lots of hands on bodies..." She said and blushed, looking him straight in the eyes. He blushed and rubbed the back of his neck with one hand nervously.

"I dream about you touching me a lot... in places you never have before..." He offered up, trying to make the conversation equal in embarrassment for them both.

"I dream of that also... and you to me..."

"... So you want that from me?" He asked tenderly, no longer embarrassed, willing to give her anything she wanted.

"More than I can even explain. More than I want to waterbend on the full moon." She leaned up and kissed him again with loving passion, the moon making her emotions and hormones run wild. He returned her kiss hungrily but after a while stopped and broke from her lips. Katara was confused.

"Aang... I don't understand. Don't you want me the way I want you?" She asked, a little hurt from the rejection she just received.

"I do! Please Katara, don't think I don't. It's just..." He trailed off, turning his head away from her. She took her hand and cupped his cheek, turning his face back towards her own so their eyes could meet.

"What's wrong?" She asked quietly. He hesitated. He was so inexperienced that it embarrassed him. He thought she deserved better. An older guy who knew what he was doing. Not him. He sighed and closed his eyes, placing a hand to hers that was on his cheek. He opened them back up to speak to her.

"As much as I love you... that doesn't change the fact that I have no idea how to please you. I've never been taught anything about this... I've never even seen a naked woman before." He said and closed his eyes, completely ashamed of himself.

"It's okay." She said with a small smile and kissed his lips softly to reassure him. "I'll be happy to be the first woman you've even seen..."

"What if I do this wrong Katara? I'm terrified right now." The fear was obvious in his gaze. "What if I mess this up so badly that you don't want to be with me anymore?"

"Aang . Stop. That will never happen. Nothing in the universe could make me not want to be with you." She gave him another, but more passionate kiss than before. She pulled back to give him one last line of comfort. "Just go with what feels right."

He nodded and kissed her lovingly at first, but it quickly grew into a full make out session. His tongue was slipping into her mouth and his arms were holding her tight to him, feeling every curve of her body against his muscles through what little clothing they had on. His hands slowly passed down from her shoulders to her back, then to the small of her back, slowly trailing down until he grabbed her rear. She replied with a small nibble to his lower lip but didn't complain. He was beyond words at what he felt. Her plumpness had always be plainly seen, but he didn't expect to feel so much muscle there. He lingered there for a while before trailing back up her body, coming up her sides and stopping just under her breasts. She broke the kiss and began to give him open mouthed kisses along his jaw line and down his neck, silently begging him to continue touching her. As he palmed her soft breasts she sucked on his pale skin, making him let out a soft sigh. What he was giving her, she was determined to give back. Aang was amazed at how soft and warm her chest was, even through bindings. As he played with them she let put a soft moan into his ear. It made him excited to know that moan was of pleasure. He slowly backed her up against the stone wall and continued to grab her, more delicious noises coming from her lips which were still at his ear. She nibbled on his earlobe and shivers went down his spine, her hot breath in his ear the only thing he could hear besides his own heart racing inside his chest. He moved his lips to her neck, giving her the same kisses on her skin that he had received. She arched her back in pleasure, pressing her hips to his. She felt a bulge starting to form between them and she slipped her hand between their bodies, grasping him softly. There was a sharp intake of breath from him and he stopped everything he was doing. Katara didn't move her hand bust asked him if he was alright.

"Yes... I just can't seem to focus with you touching me..." He said, a little embarrassed that she could multitask while he could not. Katara stopped and let go, thinking of something,

"Aang, bend a slanted platform from this wall."

He took his hand off of her and did as she asked, making a low slanted bed.

"Okay now take off your trunks and lay down."

He looked to her with apprehension. She had never seen him naked before. He was worried that she might be disappointed. They stood there for a while as she waited for him. Finally he, full of anxiety, took off his bottoms and tossed them aside, laying down as she told him to, holding his breath for her remarks. She blushed as she saw him for the first time. He was much bigger than she had expected, both length wise and girth. She smiled and walked to his side, leaning over him and giving him a kiss on the lips. When their lips parted she leaned down to whisper into his ear.

"Before you see me, I want to give you a present."

He was both confused and aroused at her whisper. Before he could ask what said present was she was crawling onto the platform with him, kneeling between his legs. Their eyes met and her hand gripped him softly, stroking him lovingly. He threw his head back at her touch. This was so much better than any dream he had ever had. He gasped softly as she stroked him. He was so warm in her hand and she could feel his blood pulsing through him. He continued to stroke him until their eyes met again. Then she did something Aang had never even thought of. She leaned down and gave his tip an open mouthed kiss.

"Katara!" He gasped. "What are you doing!?" He swore his heart was going to pound right out of his chest. It had felt so good but he had never even thought if that as a possibility.

"Don't you like your present? I was just trying to give you something you might like..." She frowned, still gripping him.

"No, it's not that... I just never thought... I'm sorry. I liked it. A lot. Please keep going..." He begged sheepishly.

She smiled and her lips eagerly met his tip once more, making his gasp in pleasure. Her wet, hot mouth enveloped his head and she licked the underside, making him dib his nails into the stone and throw his head back again.

"You have no idea how good that feels..." he purred to her, eager for more.

"She smiled and continued, taking him further into her mouth while stroking him her grip growing tighter. He couldn't decide what was better, just feeling her, or watching her too. His fingers actually began to leave marks on the earth bed, trying to hold himself to the ground as he felt like he was floating. Her mouth moved further and further down him with each slow pass, making it completely agonizing to keep still or quiet. She was finally to the point where her lips were at his base when she sucks on him softly. This simple action made him groan into the night. On the next pass she did it again, and again, her pace picking up. Aang was breathing so heavily and groaning from her ministrations, lost in a haze of lust. He was getting to the point where he felt like he was going to explode - he knew he had to stop her.

"Katara... stop..." was all he could get out between gasps and moans. She did as asked and slipped him out of her mouth, a question in her eyes.

"That's enough... my present was amazing, but if you don't stop, you're not going to get what you want tonight."

She nodded, understanding with a smug grin.

"Your turn, trade me." He said, getting up off the platform. Surprisingly she did as told, sitting on the edge of the platform. She was hesitant now and Aang could sense anxiety coming from her. "What's wrong?"

"As much as I need this, I'm scared what you'll think of me..." she trailed doff, looking away from him. he sighed and came over to her, palming her cheek and turning her so their gazes could meet.

"I love you with everything that I am Katara. You are the most beautiful woman on this planet and I am standing completely naked in front of you. If I had the courage, you can do this too."

She nodded and stood slowly, lifting her arms to untie her upper bindings. She hesitated again.

"Turn around."

He sighed but did as told. With his back turned she let her chest loose from the white wrappings and then took off her lower ones, letting them fall into a pile and kicking them over to his trunks. She stood for a moment letting the moist hot air cover her skin before she found her courage.

"Okay."

He turned to look at her and could have died at the sight of her. He didn't know where to look first. His eyes darted form her perfectly round, exposed breasts to her cleavage line, to the bark buds she had for nipples, then down to the dark curls between her legs that held a mystery for him. He stood speechless long enough to make her feel uncomfortable. She was scared again and tried to fold her arms to cover herself up.

"No don't!" He said, rushing to her with speed only an airbender could possess, holding her arms to her sides. She was surprised and blushed, making him smile.

"Please don't be embarrassed. You are so unbelievably stunning." He said sincerely before wrapping his arms around her and kissing her deeply.

Her inhibitions were quickly lost in his searing kiss, she felt like all her pent up energy had been waiting for this. She slipped her tongue passed his lips and their tongues danced together as her arms wrapped around his neck again. He wrapped himself around her, one hand on a breast, the other on the small of her back. Her need kept growing for him, pooling in her abdomen, making her folds clench. He broke the kiss to leave another burning trail down her neck, moving as slowly as he could. It was pure torture for her. She wanted his touch all over her body at once. Her arms pushed at his head, trying to draw him closer to her skin, in need of more. He was very slow to oblige, making his way down her neck to her shoulder. his grip on her breast was becoming rougher, turning from a soft grasping action into a kneading one. He slipped his thumb across her nipple which elicited a small moan from her. Her reaction made him happy but also stirred up a lot of curiosity. He changed the direction of his slow path of burning kisses to trail down her collar bone, then still ever so slowly to the soft flesh of the breast he had been holding. Finally he moved his hand and his warm lips wrapped around the dark bud he had previously touched. She gasped and her skin was on fire. Aang was so amazed at the sounds she was making. Maybe he knew more than he thought he did. his tongue passed over her nipple and she arched her back with a moan, pulling his head closer into her. her need was growing ever more and she was having trouble being patient. She took the hand that was on her back and guided him to the dark curls between her legs. He pulled his head away from her and looked to her, letting his fingers explore what he couldn't see. Her eyes were closed but the look of pleasure was undeniable as he slipped his fingers around her slickness, finding a little bump near the front that made her twitch as gasp. The more he played with that little bundle of nerves the more she gasped and moaned, arching and twisting from his touch.

He was frustrated that he couldn't actually see what he was doing and slipped his hand away from her, scooping her up into his arms. She opened her eyes and looked you him in shock. She didn't say anything as he walked them over and put her down gently on the stone platform. He crawled on top of her, his kneed between her legs and hovered over her, kissing her passionately on the lips. Their tongues danced again and she felt her need at her peak. She wanted him, now.

"Aang... I need you..." She whispered to him as she broke their kiss. Her statements sent another wave of shivers down his spine. He needed her too, but there was something he was determined to do first. He kissed her neck again and started from there going down her body. He kissed down to her breast, licking and sucking on one nipple first and then the other. Then his kissed wondered lower, down across her stomach, down to the very start of her curls. Aang spread her legs to look at what had been hidden from him and he gasped quietly in awe. Katara was flushed and felt slightly awkward letting him see her, but he wasn't complaining. She looked to him and he was actually smiling. To him, this was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. He could see her pink folds, how they opened up like a flower. And he could see the little bump of nerves at the very top. He wondered to himself how something so small could make her feel so much pleasure. He looked to her and met her eyes, giving her the same lust filled look he had so many years ago when they had danced together in the fire nation. She returned it and relaxed, the only thing coursing through her now was the need for him.

Now that he could see what he was doing as slipped a finger along her folds, making her ache for him. He was curious about a few things, mostly where he would go. He pressed into the folds and found her entrance, making her moan softly. It was small and tight and dripping with her juices. He was both completely turned on and scared about how he was going to fit. Her entrance clamped onto his finger as he went deeper, Katara moaning in pleasure even louder. As her breathing quickened, so did Aang's. All questions at this moment were wiped form his mind and all he wanted to do was make her make those noises again. He leaned down ad his finger penetrated her again, licking the small bundle of nerves. She gasped and leaned up onto her elbows.

"What are you doing?" She asked, completely surprised.

Aang stopped, fearing he had done something wrong. "I'm just giving you what you gave me."

"Guys don't do that to girls." She said, shock still on her face.

"Really? Why not?"

"I don't know... they just don't." She said, a little embarrassed.

"Well, you said just do what feels right..." She fingered her and licked her clit again, making her moan and throw her head back. "Does that feel wrong? Because its sounds like you like it." He said with a smug grin.

"I do like it... I love it... just don't think that you have to do it..."

"Katara... I want to."

And with that he continued, letting his tongue circle her clit while he forced his finger in and out of her, making her make the most amazing noised he had ever heard. Her moans made him feel so aroused he wasn't even sure he was thinking anymore, just running on instinct. he pulled his finger out of her and slipped his tongue down further, licking her folds and pushing his tongue into her entrance. She moaned his name and bucked her hips up, letting him know that she wanted more. Her taste surprised him. She was salty but sweet at the same time. As he continued to lavish her with his tongue she couldn't take it anymore. She needed him. Right now.

"Aang, please... I need you inside of me..." She begged from him.

He was over her in seconds, positioning himself at her entrance before kissing her deeply. As they kissed he slowly pushed himself into her, stretching her out around him, making her moan loader than before. He was halfway in when he felt a barrier. Katara broke their kiss and look up to him with heavy lidded eyes.

"You have to break it."

"Isn't that going to hurt?" He asked, concerned. That was the last thing he wanted to do.

"Yes, but if you do it quickly it will be over with and the pain will pass."

He frowned and kissed her again. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. Please Aang... I need you." She kissed his lips and laid back down, wrapping her arms around his shoulders.

He took her hips in his hands and pulled out, looking to her one last time.

"Ready?"

She nodded and gripped his shoulders, bracing for the pain.

He closed his eyes and exhaled, gripping her and pushing himself all way into her as fast as he could, feeling the barrier break as he forced his way into her. She gasped at the sharp pain and he kissed her lips.

"I'm so sorry..." He said, feeling the amazing feeling of her tight hot walls surrounding him.

"Just keep moving..." She whispered, feeling a mixture of both pain and pleasure.

That was all the incentive he needed. He thrust in and out of her and was completely overcome by some animalistic instinct to move faster and faster each time, completely forgetting about her pain. She did too. All she could feel was her walls being stretched around him and the feeling of him slamming into a large bundle of nerves at the very back of her. She wrapped her legs around his waist, causing him to go deeper.

"Oh Spirits, Aang... harder..." She moaned out, breathing heavily.

He did as told, grabbing her and pounding into her with much more force. He was completely lost in her slick vice grip, unaware of anything else around them. The tighter she wrapped her legs around him the deeper he went, making them both groan in bliss. The pattern continued until he was coming close. He felt a small streak of panic. He didn't want to leave her unsatisfied. As he pounded into her he slipped a finger down between them, playing with her clit quickly.

"Aang!" She screamed, arching her back so much so that he was able to catch her nipple in his mouth, sucking on it rather roughly. She was almost complete. She felt her climax starting to boil in her veins and she dug her nails into the earth bed. Her screams made him feel like nothing ever had and he wanted to make her feel the way he was about to feel. After a few more second of this, Katara reached her climax, wrapping her arms around him and convulsing, her insides clamping around him even tighter. This brought him to his, taking his lips away from her skin and putting both hands on her hips, exploding inside of her with a few more thrusts and moaning out her name. When he was at the point where he couldn't move anymore, he collapsed on top of her, laying his head on her breasts while they both panted heavily, trying to regain a normal heart rate.

He lay there listening to her heart for a long time, it could have been an hour for as much as he knew. He didn't care, he was happy and so was she. She rubbed her hand over his head, tracing his arrow after her breathing had become normal. He took her hand and brought it to his lips, kissing the finger that had been tracing his tattoos. He opened his eyes and smiled up to her, wrapping his arms around her. She smiled back and rested her hand on his head. Nothing needed to be said. They both loved each other and had both just proved just how much. As time passed, a gray light started to brighten up the forest and river around them. Dawn was approaching. Katara Noticed before Aang did.

"We should probably go back. The sun will be up within the hour..."

He nodded and got up from her, pulling himself out of her slowly, causing a small moan from both of them. he stood first and offered his hand to her, helping her up. Her legs were a little wobbly and she leaned onto him for stability. She smiled and looked to her.

"You alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." She said with a small laugh, kissing him on the lips.

They both got dressed in their undergarments and Aang bent the stone back into the wall, like nothing had ever happened. They took each other's hand and walked from the waterfall over to where their other clothes were, getting dressed and heading back to camp.

"What do you think Toph and Sokka did while we were gone?" He asked.

"Hopefully they didn't fight, that's the last thing we need."

* * *

"Why would you kiss me? Aren't you still all torn up over Suki still?" Toph asked, incredibly confused.

"You kissed me first!" Sokka protested.

"And obviously I made a mistake!" She said and pushed herself out of his arms.

"You can't just take it back! It's out there now... wait, why would you kiss me?"

Toph was quiet and crossed her arms, looking away from his voice.

"Gee, I don't know, why do most people kiss?"

Sokka was quiet, still trying to process the entire situation. His silence frustrated her. He finally worked it out, but it took him a while.

"Why are you choosing now to reveal that you have feelings for me? How long has this been going on?"

"When was a good time to tell you? While you're with another woman?"

"Good point, but I still want to know how long you've had these feelings."

"Why does it matter how long?" Toph yelled, exasperated. "What matters most is that YOU kissed ME back! And you're in love with Suki! I am not Suki, so what are you doing kissing me?"

Sokka was quiet again. He was so confused. He missed Suki terribly, but the idea of him and Toph together was something he had thought of before. He had just never thought that she felt anything for him. Right now what he was trying to figure out was why did he kisser; because she's there and he wishes she was Suki... or because he actually wanted to kiss Toph and the opportunity had never been handed to him until now.

"I'm not sure..." he said truthfully, completely confused and starting to go down yet another inner spiral of emotions.

"Well don't talk to me until you figure it out, because I'm gonna tell you one thing right now. I am NOT Suki. And I am no one's replacement, rebound or otherwise. Either kiss me because you actually want to kiss me or don't kiss me at all." With that she stormed off to her earth tent, slamming the door up and leaving him alone with his thoughts. Tonight had gotten out of hand very quickly and Sokka was trying to figure out where he and Toph stood.

* * *

Aang and Katara walked into camp with the light purple dawn lighting up everything. they saw Sokka poking at the fire, and an earthtent with the door closed. Katara's previous suspicions were proving true; they fought. Again. She sighed and let go of Aang's hand, walking over to her brother.

"What happened now?" Katara asked carefully. Aang sat on the other side of him.

"I really, really don't want to talk about it."

"I thought everything between you two was fine..." Aang provoked, trying to get things settled.

"It was fine... and then I ruined it. Or started something. Or destroyed something. I don't know..." Sokka said, standing up slowly. "The sun is going to be up within the hour, we should all get some rest..." And with that he walked off to his tent, leaving Aang and Katara by the fire. They exchanged a look and Katara shook her head.

"I'll probably get something out of Toph later. As for now, let's get some sleep." She leaned over and gave him a kiss on the lips. "Good night."

"Good morning." He corrected and kissed her again, letting her walk off to her own tent and he curled up on the ground under a tree so he could be shaded by the sun that was going to rise very soon.

**A/N: So! There is your Kataang moment. It's just one of many possibilities at a first time with them, so review and tell me what you think. Also, I am loving the drama between Toph and Sokka; it's just so fun to write. Sorry for the long wait but now that you see how long it was, you might understand and not hate me! See you guys soon with chapter 5! XOXO**


	6. Together

**A/N: Thanks for all the new story followers and all the reviews! I really feel the love! Sorry this one took so long to come out, I have a lot of things going on right now in my life so thank you for being understanding. Also, Coming Together is so much easier to write... Please as always review!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own a thing**

The unrelenting sun rose soon after they all went to sleep, the day just as boiling hot as the previous few. It was almost as if they were in the fire nation already, though they weren't far off. As the sun started to set over the mountains, everyone woke up in their own time, packing as they woke. Soon everything was packed but Toph was still in her earth tent, showing no signs that she was awake. She was, in fact, but she just wanted to be left alone as long as possible, feeling like such an idiot for putting herself out there. Katara had been right; showing she had any feelings for him had just confused him. She wanted to punch herself. She felt so stupid for letting her emotions control her like that. She wondered why she always screwed things up with him... why their relationship couldn't be easy like Aang and Katara's.

Everyone was ready to go as the stars came out and Katara knocked on her tent door.

"Toph, you up? We're ready to start heading out..." She asked, but no answer ever came. Toph just lay there in her self-hating state, not wanting to talk to anyone. Katara grew concerned, knowing there was no way Toph didn't hear her. She waited and asked again. "Toph? We need to get going." Still nothing but silence. She didn't even have the gull to say 'Go Away'. This whole thing had turned her into what Sokka used to be; just a bundle of emotions ready to let loose at any moment crying or punching she wasn't sure which anymore. She felt Katara's presence linger a while before she finally walked off. Then she felt the light steps of Aang come to her door. She waited for him to say something or bend the earth down around her but he was much more patient than Katara. He sat down near her head and folded his hands in his lap. Soon he tried to coax her out with kind words.

"Toph... I'm sorry, but you can't stay in there forever."

She didn't respond, but knew he was right. She would have to face the music sometime... she just wanted to do it later rather than sooner. She sighed and bent down the walls separating herself and the Avatar, sitting up, their backs to each other. It was a few more moments before he spoke to her.

"I'm not sure what's going on, and you don't have to tell me, but we're here for you. Please don't forget how much we all care about you, Toph."

She hung her head and gripped her knees to her chest, waiting for him to leave. He did after more silence from her, but said one more thing before leaving.

"When you're ready..." He trailed off, going over to the others.

She sat on the ground for another five minutes, mentally preparing herself to be around people, especially Sokka. When she was ready, she stood with a soft grunt and stretched, walking over to the side of Appa, feeling them watching her. She stood beside the beast and held her hand high in the air expectantly, not having to wait long before a strong, warm hand was in hers, pulling her up. Sokka grabbed her waist when he could and pulled her into the saddle, holding her a little closer than needed and she noticed. Once she was on her feet, he finally did let go of her, sitting on the opposite side of her. She folded her legs beneath her and rested her head in her hand, feeling Appa take off. Their goal tonight was to make it to Senlin Village, once terrorized by the forest spirit Hei Bai. After that it was off to the fire nation.

The ride started out quiet but soon Aang and Sokka somehow got into a discussion of the stupidest/most dangerous things they've ever done. And for some reason, both really wanted to win. Sokka recalled the time he was out hunting with Hakoda and a few other men of his tribe and found a young polar bear dog all by itself, tried to ambush it, only to realize the mother was behind a glacier nearby, and having to pull a miraculous escape, making everyone run for their lives as there was not enough of them to take the mother down. The way he told the story made Toph smile and Katara laughed, calling him an idiot. Aang tried to recall something to top him, but they already knew most of the stupid things he used to do.

"I'm sorry, but I think being hunted by the Unagi is the dumbest thing you've ever done, considering I had to save you, you show off." Katara said, pointing a finger at him from the saddle. He turned from where he sat, on Appa's head, and gave her a look.

"Wow Aang, you seem to get your butt saved a lot by girls. That must do wonders for your ego!" Toph said. Everyone was quiet except for Sokka, who let out a chuckle. It was the first thing she had said all night.

"Katara has saved me load of times, but so what? I've saved her plenty. I saved the word! We all need help every now and then."

"Yeah, but saving the world and being saved from your own stupidity are two separate things." Toph argued.

"Toph, come on. We've all done some pretty stupid stuff." Sokka said with another chuckle.

"Not me." She said and folded her arms.

"Oh really?" Katara said, looking at her incredulously. "You've never done one ill decided thing, huh?"

"That's what I said, sweetness." She said and turned to her side, facing Katara.

"What about the time you scammed most of Fire Fountain City? That was pretty dangerous."

"Hey! We were doing just fine until you wanted to pull the biggest scam of all and decided to get us captured!" Toph defended.

"That's not the point." She stuck her nose in the air.

"Point is, I've never done something myself to get into deep trouble that I couldn't get myself out of. Actually, that's how I invented metalbending! It was a way out of trouble."

"Don't worry Toph. You have your whole life ahead of you to make stupid decisions. You're chance will come." Sokka said and patted her on the knee, letting his hand linger longer than it needed to. She ripped her bare leg from his hand and crossed it over the other in front of her, still a little perturbed at him. Okay maybe a lot. Until he made his choice clear, in words to her, she wanted nothing to do with him. She was honestly surprised he was talking to her at all after his behavior earlier. Toph thought that maybe he decided to try and act like it didn't happen. The thought pained her so, like a steel knife cutting down to her heart. That his kiss wasn't meant for her lips, but Suki's made her feel like crying uncontrollably, but she didn't give in. She didn't know if she could deal with having feelings for him... and him acting on his feelings toward another woman. She would be no one's replacement. But that didn't mean she didn't want him. That his lips on hers wasn't blissful. That every time he touched her she didn't desperately crave more. But her pride made her stand firm. And it she would rather die on the inside than seem like she needed him.

"Yeah yeah. We'll see." Was all she let out, leaning her back against the saddle as the night air ruffled her hair into her face.

"Toph, let me put your hair up so your neck can cool off." Mother hen said to her. She shrugged and scooted forward to the middle of the saddle, pulling her knees to her chest while Katara climbed behind her. Katara skillfully ran her fingers through Toph thick hair, pulling each strand into place and tying it up, flipping it into a ponytail.

"That actually does feel better." Toph commented as Katara got up and went back to her spot, letting Toph scoot until her back hit the saddle again.

"You know what really beats the heat? Not having hair at all." Aang threw out there.

"Don't you even suggest that we shave her head!" Sokka spat out.

Everyone looked at him, even Toph looked towards him. They all kind of looked at each other.

"What?" Sokka asked. Aang looked away with a smile and Katara stopped with her hands up in her hair, caught in the process of putting her own hair away in a bun.

"You're not cutting of her raven hair." He said, putting a final tone on the conversation.

Toph, feeling awkward yet pleased that he liked any of her features, wanted a change of subject.

"Are we almost there?" She asked anxiously through the tense silence.

"Yeah, just a few more hours..." Aang said happily, as if the time would fly by. For her and Sokka however, it was spent in an awkward, tense silence. Katara talked to Sokka, but he didn't say much. When she had tried to get any response from Toph, she was giving short answers, each time scooting farther from Sokka.

As silence washed over them again, Sokka tried to sort out his confusion. Him and Suki were done. And though it made him feel hollow inside, it was something he had to accept. But just because he was single didn't mean that he was alone. He had Aang, who was like the kid brother he never had, Katara, who was an odd mixture of mother and sister that he would always have in his life... and then Toph. He sighed softly when he thought about her, mostly in frustration. She used to be just another buddy, like Aang. But he couldn't deny the beautiful young women she had grown to be. And now he was aware that she held feelings for him, possibly since they've all been together. That weighed on his mind heavily. He couldn't figure out if the feelings he had for Suki were being transferred to her because she was there... or if he had always had these feelings buried deep inside of him. But something was drawing him to her. He loved seeing those rare moments when she wasn't stubborn and let out real, deep emotions other than anger or pride. She was most beautiful in those moments.

He was mostly frustrated because he couldn't believe how he had been the blind one this whole time. Things with him and Toph had always been easy. He used to be able to tell her anything. Why was that suddenly gone? Why was he suddenly over thinking everything that happened between them? His thoughts strayed to their kiss and how his heart felt whole when she was in his arms... how he had loved the feeling of their bodies pressed together. He tried to deny his feelings with a shake of his head, but it wasn't going to go anywhere. His heart started to race as his thoughts continued down this road, going to a place he had never gone before, not about her anyway. Though these thoughts were wrong, they felt right. It was then that his decision was made.

Toph could feel his heart rate from across the saddle and wondered what he was thinking. Wondered if he had chosen, or even more if he was thinking about her. She desperately wanted the answer to be yes to both. Katara and Aang talked to each other in low voices the rest of the way, Sokka and Toph were silent until they landed just outside the village in the dense forest. Aang and Sokka got down first, Katara getting the supplies off the saddle and handing them to the boys. When that was done, Aang airbent Katara off the saddle and caught her princess style with a laugh as she shrieked.

"Don't do that!" She said and gave him a glare. He just kissed her on the check and put her down, both of them taking their supplies and walking off to set up camp. Sokka stood by Appa's side and waited for Toph to come to the edge. She eventually did so, turning her back to him and climbing over the edge, hanging from the saddle when she couldn't climb down anymore. He lifted her by the waist and set her on the ground gently, but didn't let go of her. He leaned down and spoke to her in a low voice.

"After those two go to bed, I'd like to talk to you..." His low voiced bounced off her neck, holding her close, Toph's back still toward him. He let go of her body and walked away from her, grabbing the supplies for his own tent. She felt something crawl through her stomach with anxiety. So he had made up his mind. And she was going to be torn apart by his answer. Either way, after tonight, their relationship would never be the same. She sighed and walked over to the others, setting up her earth home on the edge of camp.

There was plenty of food to pass around and plenty of light from the moon so no fire was needed. After everyone had eaten and relaxed a little, the midnight blue sky started to turn into a grey purple. Aang announced that they should all get some rest, Katara giving him a longer than needed kiss and going off to her tent to sleep, Aang sleeping outside in the grass. It was about forty-five minutes later when she felt his heavy footsteps coming from his tent. He didn't even have to knock. She bent the door down and he came in, sitting before her on the ground on his knees. She quickly bent the door back up to his confusion.

"Now I can't see." He said softly.

"But no one can hear us." She affirmed. "Besides, you're here to talk right? You don't need vision for that."

"I guess not..." He said and they sat in silence for a while. He was trying to find the words, but they kept escaping him.

"Well?" She said, a little anxious and annoyed. She didn't want another fight, but she also didn't want to breakdown before him.

"Toph... first off, I am sorry for kissing you without making my intentions clear. I just want to reassure you that it was meant for you, and not someone else..." His heart started to race again and hers was keeping up with him. She grinned in the darkness that surrounded them and was suddenly less angry with him. He continued.

"Now that I know you have feelings for me, I can admit to myself that I've had feelings for you too. I just want to make sure we are on the same page..." He trailed off, trying to pick the words carefully."

"What do you mean, on the same page?"

"Look, we both like each other, and that's great, but where do we go from here?" He asked into the darkness, trying to make her understand.

"I don't know. I've never really been in this situation before." She said with no shame. It was true, she was new to this.

"In my culture, you don't just date someone just because you like each other... you are together for a purpose, trying to ultimately reach a milestone together..."

"What are you saying Sokka?" She asked, a little worried where this was going.

"I was raised with the notion that when you are with someone, it's because you are wanting to marry them... and I strongly believe that's how it should be with any relationship I enter. I apparently didn't make myself clear in my last relationship and I don't want to start a new one the same way. It would be like lying to you. If we were together and the whole time I'm thinking of where we are going and you're not... it just won't work out well." He said and held his knees, shaking, fearing rejection from her. She was quiet as she tried to process the information.

"So you're saying that if we do get together... you're going to be thinking of marrying me the whole time?" She asked, feeling like her heart was going to pound out of her chest.

"Yes."

"And there is no way to change your mind? We can't just be in a relationship and see how it goes?" She asked him.

"We can, but I'll still be thinking it. Which brings me to my next issue... You're not of marrying age."

Toph scoffed at him. "So what? I don't care."

"Toph... there is a difference between us of three years. Three years where I have been in an active relationship. I'm no novice. But you are. So as stubborn as you are, you're going to have to follow my lead."

"Not a chance. if I let you take the lead, you'll take this as slowly as possible, and that's not gonna happen." She spoke up.

"Just hear me out-" He tried to reason with her.

"No. You hear me. You may be older than me, but I am still a woman. I'm not that little girl you still see me as. And you need to own up to the fact that I am just as much of an adult as you are, especially after all of the shit we've been through. If that didn't rob me of my childhood, I don't know what else could. I can make adult decisions for myself."

"I knew you were going to be like this... Toph I don't want to fight with you-"

"Then leave, because right now that's all we're doing."

"No, I mean I don't want to fight anymore..." He reached into the darkness and found her hands resting on her knees, taking them in his own and scooting closer to her. "I don't want to argue or yell or say things that hurt. No more. Please." He said softly and stroked the back of her hands with his thumbs. She could feel his pulse and it was running as fast as hers, feeling the warm rough skin of his hands. She could see him perfectly fine, the vibrations of his quickened pulse lighting him up for her. She slipped her hands from his and wrapped them around his neck and shoulders.

"Fine. No more fighting of any kind..." She said, no longer fighting her feelings for him. She leaned up on her knees and matched her lips to his perfectly. He didn't hesitate, wrapping his arms around her and melting into each other. Their kiss was soft at first but soon Toph made them searing, pressing her lips against his hungrily, her tongue eventually slipping across his bottom lip. It caught him off guard that she was so skilled sensually and he broke their kiss, his breath coming a little fast between them.

"I think that's far enough for tonight..." He heard her sigh but he gave her a kiss on the lips, just a peck. He untangled himself from her arms and backed away. "Goodnight Toph."

She bent the door down to her tent and let him out, smiling.

"Good night."

After he was gone she bent the door back up and laughed a little bit to herself. As unbelievable as it was... she and Sokka were finally together.


	7. Lessons

**A/N: So! They are finally together. But baby steps might not be what Toph had in mind! O_O; Anyways, here is the next chapter. I really appreciate all of your reviews and all of your love. Please never underestimate how much those reviews mean to me. Here you go, love you all! XOXO**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

Daylight came and went. As the sun set over the trees the group awoke slowly, greeting each other and grabbing food to eat out of the supplies. Aang naturally sat next to Katara and Sokka sat very close to Toph, forming a semi circle between the group as they ate their meal in comfortable silence. Katara noted the closeness between Sokka and Toph, glad that they patched things up. She smiled and looked to Aang, giving him a nudge. He looked up and followed her eyes, smiling when he saw them sitting together.

"Glad to see things are back to normal. So, we're all good?"

"We're great Aang, nothing to worry about." Sokka responded and wiped his mouth, Toph giving a smile as she ate her food. She hoped things would stay great between them, that she didn't ruin this.

Aang finished eating first and dusted himself off, leaning over to give Katara a kiss on the cheek.

"I'll start packing."

"Okay sweetie." She said and smiled at him, turning to Sokka and expecting him to be gagging. He wasn't. She raised an eyebrow at him curiously. "What, no 'oogie' comment?"

"Nope." He said and put his hand on Toph's bare knee. Toph had butterflies go through her stomach but didn't argue, loving the feel of his rough hands but gentle touch. Katara's eyes flew to his hand and she almost did a double take.

"Anything new you'd like to talk about."

"Nope." He replied again and smirked, looking to Toph, knowing that not being told things drove Katara crazy. Katara frowned and folded her arms with a little 'hmmph', getting up from their group and going to help Aang pack. When she was gone Toph chuckled.

"You did that on purpose." She said to him.

"Yeah, I know."

"You know if she asks me what's going on, she'll pry until she's satisfied." Toph said, finishing her dinner and dusting off her hands. He finished eating right after her.

"You can tell her whatever you want. But ultimately, it's none of her business. Just like what she and Aang do is none of my business." He said.

"Wow, what happened to the protective big brother we've gotten used to?"

"I just don't want to be called a hypocrite." He said and kissed her on the cheek. "I'm gonna go help the others pack."

They both had smiles on their faces and Toph was left alone. She thought to herself that maybe this wasn't going to be hard. Now that they had cleared the air between them, maybe things would progress quickly, she hoped. She stood and walked over to her tent and grabbed her little bag of clothes, of which reeked something fierce. She sat on the ground and felt the others trample around the campsite, gathering their things together and packing them atop Appa's saddle. When they were done Katara called to her and she walked over to Appa, getting pulled up into Sokka strong arms again and he let her down, sitting right next to her and putting an arm around her shoulders as they took off. Toph leaned back against the saddle and crossed her legs in front of her, enjoying his close proximity. Katara noticed again but didn't say anything, just climbed out of the saddle and next to Aang. If they could be together like that, then she could be with Aang how she wanted to be, wrapped in his arms.

The flight was quiet, both groups having whispered conversations to their partners.

"Look back there and tell me what you see." Katara whispered to Aang, holding his hand. Aang did indeed look back and saw Toph and Sokka, cuddled together, whispering to each other with smiles.

"When did that happen?"

"I have no idea. I mean Toph and I have had conversations about her feeling before… but I didn't expect this to happen."

"Wait, since when has she had feelings for Sokka?"

"Apparently for a while."

"Why am I the last to know?"

"Because it doesn't really involve you." She said meekly.

"If they've been fighting this whole time and actually liked each other, that's my business because it's been putting our whole group dynamic out of whack." Aang whispered to her, authority ringing in his tone.

Katara didn't say much the rest of the trip, feeling bad for keeping this from him. She looked back at them occasionally, mostly curious about how her brother was actually feeling. Whether he actually had feelings for Toph, or was just using her to fill the void left. The night air was cooler than they had experienced, despite the fact that they now flew over fire nation waters. Tonight their goal was to get to Shu Jing, a small town known mostly to the group as the place where Sokka learned from Master Swordsman, Piandao. The flight passed by quickly, landing just outside the town, where the waterfalls of the cliffs ran down stream into a cool river. They all climbed off Appa, boys first to get the supplies Katara handed them, then the girls got off with the boys' help. When Sokka grabbed Toph's waist (as she was hanging off the saddle) he held her close, letting her feet touch the ground and resting his chin on her shoulder. Her back was to him so he couldn't see the smile on her face, but it was there. She tried to get out of his grasp, not wanting the others to cause a fuss but he wrapped his arms around her middle, holding her closer.

"You know, I can just earthbend you away if I wanted to."

"Yeah but you don't want to, so I'm safe."

"Lucky for you."

He smiled and kissed her on the cheek, letting go on her and handing her bag to her.

They all set up their respective living quarters, except for Aang who as usual was going to sleep under the stars and had already found a lush grassy spot to lay on. The sky was still midnight blue, morning several hours off. Once everyone was set up and everything unpacked Katara looked around at their group, whole again.

"Okay, I think we all need a little relaxation time. We've been just traveling and sleeping. What do you guys say we go down to the river and have some fun?"

"Like all of us, or just girl time again?" Aang asked, excited for the chance to see her half naked again. Especially now that he knew exactly what she looked like.

"All of us. Together as a family."

"Sounds fun!" Aang said and aribent himself up, leaning his staff against Katara's tent.

"Count me in." Sokka said.

"Sure, why not. My clothes need washing anyways." Toph said and hitched her bag over her shoulder.

"I'll take care of that for you. Guys, grab your stuff, I'll wash those too. Plus we could all use a bath."

They all gathered their sweat soiled clothes while Katara grabbed a few soap blocks and headed down to the river. Everyone got undressed accordingly; the girls and Sokka down to their bindings, Aang down to his trunks. Katara gathered the pile and stepped into the river, starting to wash the clothes while Aang jumped right into the river, making a big splash and laughing. While Katara was occupied with laundry and Aang busy swimming around her, Sokka stole glances at Toph. He had never seen her in under clothes before and they were much more revealing than his sisters. Her top half was barely covered, just around her chest, while for bottoms she had a pair of white, tight fitting, low riding, trunks that looked a lot like a female version of what Aang wore. He guessed it was something Katara must have sewn for Toph herself as he had never seen these on a girl before. Toph's body was usually hidden under those baggy clothes, even sleeveless shirt she wore now was loose on her. But now that he could he her body, every curve that those clothes normally hid, it made his pulse rush. He was torturing himself. Looking from her well endowed chest to the skin on her waist to the roundness of her backside and drinking in how the moonlight danced on her pale skin. It was nearly impossible for him to look away. Toph stood beside him and could feel his heartbeat increase.

"Everything okay?" She asked, wondering what on earth could have set him off.

He cleared his throat and looked away. "Yeah everything's fine. Come on."

He said and slipped in hand into hers, leading her into the water. When it was waist high he let go, floating on his back and enjoying the night sky view. Toph knelt down in the water, keeping her feet plated on the river bed. He turned to her and smirked.

"You don't look very relaxed."

"I don't like not seeing. And I still can't swim." She said and folded her arms.

He stopped floating and stood in the water, wading up to her.

"Stand up."

She did and he came to her side, putting an arm on her back.

"Lean back."

"Why?"

"I'm going to teach you how to float." Sokka said softly.

"Why?"

"Because that's the first lesson in learning how to swim."

"It won't work. I sink like a rock." She said and shook her head.

"Toph, if you're gonna be with me, you need to know how to swim. I'm watertribe. It's in my blood."

"Can't you just swim around with everyone else and just let me sit in the water?"

"No. Now lean back." He said calmly.

She hesitated but finally leaned her weight into his arm, of which started to lower her back into the water. He was very slow and careful. It was easy for him, she didn't weigh much. She on the other hand was having a small panic attack as the water swallowed up her hair, creeping up her back to her shoulders. The water was a nice refreshing temperature, but it was terrifying for her. She placed a hand on his bare chest.

"Don't let me drown." She said, anxiety clear in her voice. He leaned over her as the back of her head and neck touched the water.

"I promise I won't. I'm right here…" He slid his other arms under her thighs and slipped down so he was under her knees. "Now let your legs go up."

"I'm gonna sink!"

"I'm holding you, you won't sink."

She sighed with worry and let him lift her legs to the surface.

"Okay now here where it gets tricky…"

* * *

"What are they doing?" Katara asked Aang as he helped her with the laundry. He took his focus off their clothes and looked over to Sokka and Toph down the river, seeing him take her back and start to lower her into the water.

"It looks like… he's floating her?" Aang asked and squinted, trying to get a better view in the moonlight.

"Is he teaching her how to swim?" Katara asked while she swirled the clothes in a soapy whirlpool.

"I guess so. I'm glad they're getting along. Maybe that will leave more time for you and I to be together." He said suggestively with a smirk on his face and he returned to washing their clothes.

"I guess that wouldn't be so bad." She said with a blush on her face.

"You guess? Come on Katara, I know you enjoyed yourself just as much as I did the last time we were alone." He boasted, rinsing the clothes in the cool water and taking half of them to hang on a tree up on the shore. She followed suit and took the other half, helping him hang them up on the lower branches. When the clothes were hung, She bent all the water out of them while he blasted them with air, making them dry instantly.

"Yeah, okay, it was amazing. I just worry about them being alone together now that they are apparently… together. You know?"

"Why? They are allowed to have the same level of happiness we have." Aang asked as he took her hand, going back into the river with her. They got waist deep and started to swim around, staying out of earshot from them.

"Because I know the level of relationship my brother and Suki had. I know how quickly they became physical… and I've talked to Toph and I just don't know if she is ready for that."

"Why not? She's the same age as I am and I was ready." He said, trying to reason with her.

"Look, I just don't want Sokka to take advantage of her. I mean, do we even know if he has feelings for her?" She asked apprehensively.

"Of course he does. Look at the way he has been around her. And honestly, the idea of Toph being taken advantage of is a joke. You are worrying about nothing. Now relax… I thought we were supposed to be having fun?" He said and splashed her. She shrieked a little bit and splashed him back, and the war ensued.

* * *

"What do you mean 'tricky'?"

"I need you to arch your back against my arms."

"Why"

"Because once you do that, I am going to slip my arms from under you and you will be floating."

"Sokka, no. Don't let go." She said, panic written all over her face.

"Toph, the water is waist deep. If you start to sink, you can just stand up. Trust me… just arch your back against the surface of the water." He said in a calm voice.

She did as he said and he let go of her slowly, standing up straight when he could let go of her completely.

"I'm doing it!" She said and smiled.

"See? I knew you could." He said and mirrored her smile.

"Don't let me float away." She said and held out her hand.

"I won't." He said and took her hand, lacing his fingers with hers. She floated there for a while in silence until she was tired of it.

"Okay that's enough for today…" She said and let herself relax, taking a deep breath and going under the water, standing in front of him when she resurfaced. her hair was stuck to her face and he took his free hand, moving her hair.

"I think I'm ready for the bath part now." She said as she blew a strand of wet hair out of her face that he had missed.

"Okay, I'll go grab the soap bars from Katara."

She dipped her body back down into the water while he swam towards his sister, taking his time. As he came up to her, she stopped splashing Aang and gave him a glare. He looked up to her and then to Aang, who looked between them and shrugged at Sokka.

"What?" He asked, standing up in the water.

"What are you doing?" Katara asked with her hands on her hips.

"Uh, I'm about to take a bath, give me some soap." Sokka said and held out his hand. She passed him one of the scented bars but her glare didn't drop.

"No, I mean what are you doing with Toph."

"What does it look like?"

"It LOOKS like you're suddenly together… but do you actually have feelings for her?"

"Ouch. Nice to know you think so little of me Katara, real nice."

At that her glare dropped and her hands fell to her sides. She was going about this the wrong way. She didn't want to insult Sokka.

"Sorry, I just don't want Toph to get hurt… she doesn't let people in often…"

"I will _never_ hurt her." He said firmly and gave his sister a look. At that she nodded, satisfied with his answer, and gripped her arm, looking away from him. He turned his back to them, walking back towards Toph.

"Well, there you have it." Aang said and walked over to Katara, putting his hands on her shoulders. "Everything will be okay."

She nodded and watched her brother walk away.

When Sokka reached Toph he took the bar and block and broke it in half.

"Here." He said and she opened her palm, him placing half into her hand. She gripped it and stood up in the water.

"Interesting conversation…." She said and started to scrub herself, wanting some kind of reaction from him.

"How could you have possibly heard any of that?" He said and turned his back to her, giving her some privacy while starting to clean himself.

"I'm blind, not deaf. Water carries sound like you wouldn't believe." She said and bent down, getting her hair wet again and washing it sideways in the water. "You just have to pay attention."

"What part was interesting to you?" He asked, washing his chest and rising himself, listening to her splashing quietly behind him.

She decided to dodge the obvious. "Oh, how Katara will always be mother hen, no matter how old we are."

He chuckled and went underwater, taking out his wolf tail and scrubbing his head when he resurfaced. They bathed silently in the moonlight until Toph spoke again.

"And how you'll never hurt me…" She said softly, rinsing her hair and body and kneeling down in the water. He turned to her and she had a very serious look on her face. He swam over to her and looped his hand into hers, leaning down to her.

"I won't…" He said and kissed her lips softly, pulling back before she had the chance to turn it into something else like last time. Her pulse quickly rose. She was disappointed that he pulled away so fast, but loved the feel of the droplets of water he left behind on her lips.

"Come on, let's get dressed." He said and stood, intertwining their fingers together and tugging on her. She stood and followed him to the shore where he grabbed his clothes, and then he passed her own clothes to her.

"Hey Katara, I could use some waterbending over here." He called to his sister, who was in the process of making goo-goo eyes with Aang. He grumbled internally at the sight but didn't make any comment, determined not to be a hypocrite. She looked to him and nodded, walking over to the pair on the shore.

"Need a quick dry?"

"No point in putting on dry clothes over wet ones." He said with a shrug.

"Hold your arms out and keep still."

Both did as told and the remaining water was bent out of their bindings.

"There you go, dry as can be."

"Thanks, hey are you guys done yet?" Sokka asked as they started to get dressed.

"Almost. We'll meet you back at camp." She said and waded back into the water. Sokka didn't like the sound of that but let it drop, pulling his pants up and folding up the legs to his knees.

"Alright. Ready Toph?" he asked as she was tying her shorts on.

"Yeah, I'll just carry my shirt, the air feels good. Let's go."

And off they went, Sokka getting one more glance at Katara and Aang, of whom were still splashing each other, before he was out of sight. When he was out of sight, Aang smiled and stopped splashing her, closing the distance between them and leaning down to give her a kiss on the lips. She smiled and giggled against his lips, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"You waste no time, do you."

"I take what I can, when I can." He said and wrapped his arms around her, his hands resting on the small of her back.

"He's gonna find out eventually you know."

"Yes, but I would like later rather than sooner." He said and gave her a hungry kiss, of which she was hesitant to return.

"Aang, camp is like, right over there. Just around the corner."

"Then be quiet." He said and kissed her neck tenderly.

"You are so aggressive tonight…" She whispered softly as his lips made a trail down her neck, making her head spin. he stopped at her words and pulled back, holding his forehead to hers.

"I'm sorry, just seeing you in the water and the moonlight reminds me so much of the other night…" He closed his eyes and held her body close to him.

"I didn't say I didn't like it." She smiled and kissed his lips, hungry for more. He returned her kiss eagerly, slipping his tongue passed her lips quickly, enjoying her taste. She moaned softly as their tongues danced together, her breath mingling with his. Her hand cupped the base of his head, pulling him closer. He broke their kiss and tried to catch his breath, pressing his forehead against hers. Her chest was heaving slightly, all ready worked up from just a little bit of kissing. He opened his eyes and met her beautiful sapphire gaze, melting his insides.

"Katara, I love you so much... you are everything to me. Beginning to end, you're the only reason I do anything I do. I would do anything to keep you safe, anything it took…"

Katara was humbled and awestruck. It always took her by surprise how genuine and deep he could be on a moment's notice.

"I love you too Aang. More so today than I thought I ever could love someone. You are the only person on this earth that makes me feel complete." She said and gave him a small peck on the lips.

"Come on, let's head back to camp." He said and gave her another kiss as she agreed, taking her hand and leaving her up onto the shore. Upon arriving to the campsite, they found Toph's tent closed and no light from Sokka's tent.

"They must have turned in early." Katara whispered as she went to her own tent. Aang stopped her.

"Can I sleep with you tonight?" He asked shyly.

"Aang, in camp? Really?" She asked, a look of shock on her face.

"No, I mean sleep. I just want to hold you for a while." He whispered back, rubbing the back of his neck. She smiled and nodded and they entered her tent, tossing their clothes in a pile in the corner and laying down. He moved her hair and kissed her shoulder, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her to his body, relaxing and listening to the night crickets. He fell asleep like that, cuddled against Katara's back. Sokka and Toph, however, were not asleep. Sokka was in Toph's earth tent and they were deep in conversation.

"What did you mean when you said you would never hurt me?" She asked as she sat in the darkness of her tent. She heard him sigh and fidget with his legs, sitting on the ground opposite her.

"Just that I know how it feels to be hurt by the one person you thought would never hurt you… and I don't want to do that to you. I want our relationship to be open. I want to talk about things, even if it's hard or uncomfortable to talk about. I know that's not going to be easy with us being who we are, but if we're not open with each other, someone is going to get burned."

She was quiet for a while before deciding to come clean about her own feelings.

"Alright, you want open communication, here goes. I have had feelings for you since I've been part of the group. And I never knew how these feelings were going to manifest so I just kept getting angry at you, not used to the feelings I was having coursing through me."

"Feelings like what?" He asked, feeling secure in the darkness.

"I was thinking about you constantly, I've been dreaming about us together, and I just want any part of you that I can get. My hormones are going crazy and so are my thoughts. I just feel like I can't contain myself anymore…like I'm an explosion just waiting to happen."

He was quiet now, knowing what she wanted more than she knew herself. Knowing what she needed. It was the same thing he needed. He was unsure of the timing, but he couldn't just sit here in the dark with her, surrounded by a cloud of lust as thick as fog.

He gripped her shoulders firmly and leaned forward on his knees, one hand coming up to cup her cheek and try to find her lips blindly. He didn't have to try hard, as she leaned forward to meet him, her lips mingling with his. Once their lips met his arms wrapped around her, holding her body to him. Her arms camp up around his neck, pulling his head down and making their kiss deeper. He didn't stop her. He actually went with it, one of his hands at the back of her head through her hair. She slipped her tongue achingly slowly along his lower lip and he felt a need growing in his veins, forcing his other hand to slowly move down her back. Her breathing hitched and she was lightheaded, feeling his rough hands on her bare back, slipping along her skin. She pressed her bound chest against his, and his heart took flight, wrapping his tongue around hers for the first time. The sensation sent shockwaves though both of them and she could feel his pulse at his fingertips, still sinking lower down her body. She certainly wasn't going to stop him. She pulled his tongue into her mouth and suck on it softly, making him moan very quietly. She was egging him on, pushing him to see how far he would go. He would not disappoint. His hand reached over her shorts and gripped her backside roughly, enjoying the feel of her in his hands. She let out a soft sigh, releasing his tongue and biting his bottom lip, begging for more.

He pulled back, hearing just his own heart beat in his ears.

"Not tonight."

"What? Why?"

"It's just too soon. Just not tonight." He said and released her body, giving her one last kiss on the lips.

She signed and opened the door, letting go of him.

"Alright…"

"Good night, Toph."

"Night Sokka." She said and sat back down, bending the door up after he left.

He went to his own tent and tried to examine just what made him stop, thankful that something did. he wanted his relationship to progress with her, just not like this. he wanted an emotional AND physical relationship with her. And both needed to be built slowly. She wasn't mad, or even confused. She was happy she got as far as she did. Sleep, however, was going to be hell. She would dream of him. And the way his skin sang against hers.


End file.
